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Fumbling Families: Vonetta Flowers on Family Issues
Bobsled, Olympic gold medalist
In Alabama, family and barbecue just naturally go together. Every week my family would find a reason to have a get-together for a big cookout. I couldn’t wait for the weekend. The adults would always play music, dance and play cards. My cousins, friends and I would spend hours running around playing games. My two true loves when I was a kid became sports and family barbecues.
Everyone looked forward to relaxing and being together. We would arrive at my aunt’s house every Saturday at three o’clock. The barbecue was fired up. Soon the chicken, hotdogs and hamburgers were sizzling. The kids had plenty of sodas, and the adults had plenty of beer. It always started out so happy and carefree – everyone joking and laughing. But, after several hours of drinking, it would sometimes turn ugly.
A couple of my uncles never knew when to quit. They would drink one beer after another, and when they ran out –they would go to the store and get more. They didn’t understand how it changed their personalities and their behavior. They didn’t see what I saw. They got very loud and even angry from all that drinking. Sometimes they would fight each other. After hours and hours of drinking, none of them could walk or stand up straight.
Even though I was only about 13, I could see what the alcohol was doing. I decided then that I never wanted to be so out of control. They never remembered what happened or what they did. They would always get headaches. They stunk like booze. It was never how I pictured my life.
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I got my buzz from running as fast as I could and jumping as far as I could.
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I wanted to be a star athlete. I knew that drinking would not help me achieve my goals. I got my buzz from running as fast as I could and jumping as far as I could. I had big dreams. I wanted to be a track and field star in the summer Olympics. But sometimes dreams change. I had to have two hip, two knee surgeries and one ankle surgery. After seeing an ad for the two-woman bobsled team, my dreams changed tracks. And after all that hoping, I did make it to the Olympics. There was no better high than becoming the first African-American woman to win a gold medal in the winter Olympics. I’m so glad I made the right decisions. I chose sports. I chose a healthy life. It was the only way to get to the top.
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