The official days of Summer

There is nothing that personifies and triumphantly celebrates a dream, a team, an emblem, and something all parents of kids in sports — or other youth competition — can learn from Greg and Jill McIntosh. The couple from Etibikoe, Ontario, a part of Toronto, are must see television. The CBC cuts to Greg and Jill as they yell, stomp their feet up and down — and, most of all, hug each other when victory is achieved. Recently, that has been a regular occurance.ySitting in the bleachers, the couple along with daughter figure skater Brooke are putting a whole new meaning to family vacation.

These days are Summer. As in Summer McIntosh.

A few weeks ahead of what should be one joyous 18th birthday — Aug. 18 for those wanting to send wishes — Summer is making her own Olympic, as well as her own. It isn’t over yet. Summer is swimming throughout the weekend starting Saturday. Her parents and sister will be with her every splash, every stroke, every push off the pool wall, and every breath.

Watching Jill is a treat. She yells “Let’s go” precisely at the right r millisecond, when Jill knows very well her daughter needs a boost: she was competitive swimmer, making the Toronto Star front page of the B section in 1977 with 10 medals from a London, Ontario swim meet. Nine gold. One silver. Seven years later, as a 17-year-old, Jill competed at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and finished ninth in the 200-meter butterfly. Watching her cheer her youngest daughter four decades later at a sports she also excelled at is an image of pure love. Yet, every parent holds an MBA in coaching. Surely, by now Jill knows how to walk the fine — very fine line at that — between not interfering with Summer’s coach. challenge.Yet, her support as a mother, probably re-living her Olympic moments — helping Summer achieve the same dream of winning a gold medal she had rings of the circle of life. On a somber note, Jillian was there doing anything and everything when Summer’s coach Kevin Thurbon, a tremendous impact on her, died in the spring of 2020 at age 53.

Sitting next to Jill is husband Greg: a little — what’s the right word? — calmer. Don’t get me wrong. Greg yells, and screams, and jumps up and down … just like his wife. Some could say, jokingly of course, Greg is undercover and, very discreetly, jumps into action if Jill occasionally goes too far and needs a little help. But, perhaps the Olympics experience watching his daughter do some amazing things is a little special meaningful to Greg — and, only he knows how special. Greg was diagnosed with throat cancer.

It’s been well-documented how sports builds character in people, both at the minor and professionally. The CBC has footage of Summer walking to her event Paris La Defense Arena, an indoor pool in the west end Paris suburb of Nanterre. She’s confident and has a walking cadence that moves methodically with rhythm: a march of purpose. Summer smiles on her stroll. Laughs, too. Before she crosses a quiet street, Summer briefly stops, looks both ways and then proceeds—a vision her family may not see, but their protecting finger prints are, alas, all over them.

Where I park my wheelchair for the night in Edmonton, we’re just about to wake up to the earnest start of the August long weekend. Over the next trio of days Canadians and their families will be gathering to have fun. Swimming? Absolutely, at lakes and pools. The McIntosh family will be doing the same, across the Atlantic Ocean. We’ll be rooting, too, while having a masterclass in the power of family.