Sochi has begun.  Vancouver is fading into the history books.

I was cleaning out some files today and came across a piece of paper with the The Jenn Heil Collection on it.  In Vancouver I bought a necklace with five rings designed by olympian Jenn Heil who is from Spruce Grove not far from here.  There are five different styles and sizes of rings attached to the necklace and each represents something different.  The first ring represents the dream.  It is a soft cloud like texture symbolizing the creation of a dream and it serves to hold that chains that the other rings drop from.

The second ring symbolizes focus.  It looks more like a tiny target representing the precise concentration required to hit the mark.  The third ring is a little bigger and it represents team.  It has a braided design that illustrates the power of many working together as a team.  The next one is a little larger still and represents courage.  It is thicker and stronger to represent the courage it takes to compete.  The last one is the largest.  It has a bubbly design meant to symbolize the feeling of joy that participation brings.

It takes all of these, a dream, focus, team, courage and joy, to create an olympian and an olympic games.  I wish those athletes competing in Sochi and their coaches the very best experience ever.  I also take off my hat to the organizers, the volunteers and the thousands of people who have contributed to these important games in a multitude of ways.

My heart is with the Canadians.  Go Canada go!