Athletes After Hours with Gracie Kramer

Gracie & Her Mom on Raising an Athlete, Sacrifice, & Motherhood

• Gracie Kramer • Season 1 • Episode 11

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0:00 | 1:11:13

In this special Mother’s Day episode of Athletes After Hours, I sit down with the woman who gave me everything… my mom. This conversation is deeply emotional for me because somewhere along the way, the woman who raised me became my very best friend. We’re more connected now than we’ve ever been, and looking back on everything we’ve walked through together feels incredibly full circle. We talk about what it was really like raising an athlete, balancing motherhood while raising four kids, carrying the emotional weight of supporting someone else’s dream, and the sacrifices that so often go unseen. Behind every medal, every achievement, and every highlight moment was a mother quietly holding everything together behind the scenes, even during the moments when neither of us knew if I could keep going. As athletes, we spend so much time talking about our own pressure that we rarely stop to think about the pressure carried by the people who love us most. This episode struck such a deep nerve for me because it made me realize just how much of her life she gave away so that I could build mine. There were so many moments growing up where I thought I was chasing my dreams alone, only to realize now that she was carrying them with me every step of the way. I’m endlessly grateful to sit down with my best friend, my biggest supporter, and the woman who shaped me into who I am today.

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SPEAKER_02

You are my realest, truest, you're my best friend. I think it was cute to say it all those years, you know, because we relied on each other so much. And I I think I relied on you needing me as much as you relied on me. I I think maybe at times maybe it was unhealthy. But it got us here. So I wouldn't trade any of those difficult times.

SPEAKER_01

She's my best friend, my biggest supporter, and the one who's been there through it all. Oh my god, I'm gonna cry already. Today I get to sit down with the person who's been there through the wins, the losses, and the moments in between that shaped who I am. From my very first flip in the backyard. Ew.

SPEAKER_02

Oh my god, why am I crying? I don't know. You got this though. Come on. Come on, pull it together, G.

SPEAKER_01

This is crazy. I'm just so proud of us. This is crazy. How did we get here? From my very first flip in the backyard to the biggest moments of my career, she's been right there beside me. Usually she's behind the scenes or in my comment section, hyping me up every day. But today she's stepping into the spotlight. Mom, welcome to Athletes After Hours.

SPEAKER_02

Thanks for having me. I'm so thrilled to be here.

SPEAKER_01

Oh my God, I can't believe I could not get through that intro. I don't know why I got so emotional, but I think what's hitting different is the fact that, like reflecting on everything that we've been through, like this is gonna be a really emotional episode. Yeah. Because it has been the wildest roller coaster, I think, of all time. And you're the only person that truly understands every single step and has been there every step of the way, which is heavy.

SPEAKER_02

It is heavy. Yeah. It's been it's been remarkable. Well, thanks for coming on. Yeah. In honor of Mother's Day. I know, but I feel like an I'm sort of an imposter. Why? Because I I mean, this is athletes after hours, and I'm just like, I'm just I am just in the background most of the time. So I feel really honored to be here. Oh. Yeah, thanks.

SPEAKER_01

Well, you're not just my mom. You were literally the reason I'm here today. You're the reason I competed as well as I did at UCLA. You're the reason I even stayed in college. True. Oh my god. These are facts. Yeah. Like everything that I've thought of in my past, every trial, tribulation I've had in my lifetime, you were the person that got me through it. So that's why it's gonna be really emotional today. Um well I think it's only right to start from the beginning and talk about how I was as a kid before I got into gymnastics, before the chaos began. Kind of walk me through your perspective. I'm actually really curious what you thought about me as a kid. I'm one of four. You had four children, all two years apart. Yeah. None of us could sit still.

SPEAKER_02

You you were definitely the catalyst for my craziness, yeah, in a sense. Um it's interesting because I saw a neighbor and their home, they were just doing some last-minute fix-ups to it, and they had this enormous ladder, and it was just parked out front where their kids are all playing, and they've got their tricycles and whatnot. And I'm thinking to myself, holy shit, Grace would try to climb that. I mean, I that's literally here. I am 28, almost 28 years later. Yeah. And I still think about what you might have done. So, I mean, you were my first girl. I expected, you know, a little mini Lorraine, and you were far from it. I kept buying you dolls. Do you remember? Oh, yeah. I bought you these expensive Madame Alexander dolls, thinking we were gonna have this enormous, you know, double generation legacy of collectible dolls. Girly pop. You wanted nothing to do with them. Um, you wanted to, you know, be in Ren's shadow, your brother's shadow, and do what he was doing and skateboard and you know, ski and flip on the trampoline. You were you were there for it all. And uh it was terrifying at times. I mean, we had our moments, you know.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, even recently, I remember we watched, I think it was like during COVID, we went through like all of our home videos and you watched a video of dad skateboarding with us between his legs on the skateboard, bombing this hill, and you literally were like, When was this? I can't believe you did this. Why have I never seen this video before? And I'm like, mom, we literally did this all the time. This is like our daily routine.

SPEAKER_02

The best though is when one of our neighbors called and said, I'm sorry to do this. I hate to rat on your babysitter, but your babysitter is literally holding your kids while they're going downhills on a skateboard. And I'm like, Oh, hell no. Later came to find out it was just dad. It was dad.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So yeah, but you were, you know, you were just, I I think you were a tomboy through and through, even though you wore bows and had long, beautiful hair and were darling and precious and suffered through the girly ballet stuff, you know. Like you did. You you tried to fit that mold, and I kept trying to push you into that mold, I think, too. But um, I just came to the conclusion eventually when I saw you out on the trampoline that we needed to somehow channel whatever this was. Yeah, you know, like we had our really scary incident. Yeah. When Julia was first born, I was helping Julia, nursing Julia, and watching you climb, you know, a huge apothecary chest and watching it fall on top of you. And I mean, literally to this day, I think that an angel grabbed you and pulled you out from under this massive piece of furniture because you know, you were left fairly unscathed with just a few. Oh, literally almost died. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, it's like you watched my life flash before your eyes, and honestly. I was what, three or four? Three? No, you were you were two. Wow. You were two years old. Yeah, because Julia was a baby. So my little sister was a baby, and then we were looking at houses, and of course, I'm just rebellious AF and bouncing off the walls, and she's like, Grace. Do you remember what I told you? What?

SPEAKER_02

No. I said, honey, this house is not baby proofed. Like everything in our house was a little bit more. But I mean, honestly, I kept telling you, I was nursing Julie. I'm like, Grace, this house isn't like our house. You can't be climbing all over the place.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I didn't listen.

SPEAKER_02

Nope, didn't you?

SPEAKER_01

And ended up with a broken foot and basically learned how to walk with a cast, pink cast. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

But even then, like all the neighbors used to watch you and just like be in complete awe and amazement because you were just you just push through. Yeah. You know, you would run on that thing, do cartwheels on that thing. It's made of like rubber.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. It was crazy. When did you make the decision to put me into gymnastics? And then how'd you feel about that decision?

SPEAKER_02

Well, I was in gymnastics as a young girl and I loved it. I felt like it really, I don't know, the discipline, the agility, the flexibility, all of those things I think really pay off regardless of whatever sport you go into. Yeah, it's a great outlet. And um, when I was watching you throw some flips on the trampoline, I thought this could end really badly. You know? Yeah. A weird fall to the night. I still worry about you.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, literally, you texted me yesterday and you're like, please, when you do get a spotter, get a spotter, please. She literally saw my barb vlog and she's like, Can you have someone in the gym next time? This is stressing me out. Yep. I'm like, 27 years old, almost 28, and we're still doing this. Yeah. But yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So yeah, I I knew then that you had a lot of energy, and you know, you just you loved flipping, you loved challenging yourself. And I just thought gymnastics would be a really cool thing to experiment with, and it worked out.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, one week in and made pre-team. Yeah. Like we thought it was gonna just be this fun little hobby on the side that you can just drop me off at gymnastics, take me off your plates.

SPEAKER_02

I thought it was gonna be wrecked gymnastics, and that was it. I never expected team anything, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

You know, and the coach approached you by like what the end of the week, and just said there's potential here.

SPEAKER_02

She saw a lot of promise in you. Yeah. I mean, I think first and foremost, you really didn't have much fear. Yeah, you weren't very flexible. No, but strong as hell. I mean, that was throughout your entire career, yeah. But you were powerful and you just didn't have fear and you were just kind of crazy. You threw you through stuff, yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_01

Thank God this was around the time that like Sean Johnson was really popping off to because it created this new mold for strong gymnasts, strong, powerful girls to be valued just as much as the flexibility. Because I think before that it was really just like you have to be flexible. Yeah. And if you're flexible and you're, you know, artistic and beautiful and have these long, lean legs, like you will be successful in gymnastics.

SPEAKER_02

Well, I I remember my teeny tiny little career in gymnastics. I had to retire because I I think I got to be like 5'2, 5'3. I was too tall. I mean I'm literally 5'3. I mean, so again, it's like it's it's a whole different, you know, set of set of standards now.

SPEAKER_01

So yeah, I feel like the the world has opened up a lot more to the diversity of body types and everything. I know like Kyla Ross being five's seven and so fun, getting a million perfect tons. It's like, look, you can be tall and still be great.

SPEAKER_02

That's why I love watching NCAA still. I mean, just the the wide array of gymnasts. I mean, some are powerful, some are slender and tall and long lines, and others are just so strong and you just lean into your strengths and amplify it.

SPEAKER_01

It's so fun. Gymnastics is obviously one of the most demanding sports.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And being one of four kids, you've had to do some pretty ridiculous things to make it work. A lot of juggling. Yeah. Yeah. A lot of juggling. Like what's the most ridiculous thing you had to do to make my gymnastics career come to life?

SPEAKER_02

That's a good question. Um, obviously, you know, we did a ton of res or I did a ton of research. I wanted to make sure that we were always making the right choices, kind of forging the right path for you because I didn't know where this was gonna go. Yeah. I mean, because we talked very, you know, candidly, openly, just in passing, in the car, usually, about what you want to do with this. Always in the car. Yeah, always in the car. And ultimately, like Olympics never really came into conversation very often. Yeah. Um, you loved watching college gymnastics, and I think that's always where you kind of set your sights. Yeah. And I was good with that. So I just wanted to just make sure that whatever we took on together was gonna set you up. And if Olympics was still maybe on the back burner, and you know, who knows? Like you were only, you know, when I was making these choices with you and for you, you were like 10 years old. And um they're kind of scary choices as a parent to make. It's just like, is this crazy? Like, I'm feeling like I'm a crazy gym mom now. Like, what are we doing? And then when they proposed these homeschool hours to me, I'm like, oh, this is getting really nuts.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Cause we were at a program, we had moved gyms because the first gym didn't have the level of gymnastics that I kind of outgrew the level of gymnastics. I was kind of exceeding all the expectations. They didn't have a lot of level 10s. No.

SPEAKER_02

And I wanted you to have girls to look up to. Yeah. I wanted just to have you have the mentors and girls to inspire you. And yeah, they didn't have a surplus of higher levels. Higher levels.

SPEAKER_01

Um, so then we went to Gym Max. Went to Gym Max. And they had Olympians and elites, they did, and big names, and a lot of experience coaching really successful athletes. And I thought this is Michaela Moroney was there, Kyla Ross was there. Big names.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

It was crazy.

SPEAKER_02

It was crazy, but it was also crazy from the res you know, from the aspect that I was giving up a huge part of our time together to the sport, and I was giving up and sacrificing a lot of our family time for the sport.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, my whole family would travel without us. Right. I mean, it got to a point where it was like Grace has to stay and train. Well, even not even that.

SPEAKER_02

Like, we would have dinner as a family and you would be at the gym.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I can count on maybe one hand how many times I had dinner with my family.

SPEAKER_02

So the 1 to 9 p.m. training schedule ultimately was hard for us, and we weathered through it. And thank God for our time in the car. So many car dinners.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, to give people an idea, the reason why we spent so much time in the car is because it was a 30-minute drive up to the gym and 32-minute drive back. So, I mean, that's an hour of us, you know. I think the most ridiculous thing you ever had to do was at one point in my life, you had four kids going to three different schools, yeah, doing multiple different extracurricular activities, and you were averaging 200 miles a day on your car. Yeah. That was you drove your car into the ground for your children.

SPEAKER_02

I did. And that was literally like a nightly discussion. How far did you drive today, mom? And it was crazy. Yeah. It was not unusual on a daily basis to log 200 miles a day.

SPEAKER_01

No.

SPEAKER_02

It was But I wouldn't trade it for anything. And I didn't want to pass that responsibility off to anybody because I felt like those times were just way too precious. And that's when I that's when I learned stuff. That's when I heard what you were struggling with. That's when I heard about your little celebrations in the gym. I wasn't there when you got to do ring the bell or whatever they do when you get a new skill because they really didn't encourage parents to sit and watch, nor would I want to sit and watch for your thing. It was never my thing. But I I still felt like I was missing chunks of memories and moments with you. Um, and ultimately, I think that was the catalyst for us to look at other gyms. Yeah. You know, realizing okay, the Olympic dream is really not gonna come to fruition. Yeah. And that we were all good with that.

SPEAKER_01

And I think we just saw what the Olympic dream looked like on a day-to-day. Like we saw the behind the scenes, and it wasn't as glamorous as the Olympic dream seemed. You know, we saw the tears, we saw the the devotion, we saw the sacrifice, and it was like, yeah, I could do that. But one, like, how realistic is it really? Like, I don't think I could have gone to the Olympics unless I was like doing the same gymnastics I was doing in college that I, you know, when I was 10 years old. Like, that's the thing that people don't realize is when you're you were a late bloomer too with the part of the sport for sure. Yeah. And like I had to decide if I wanted to go to college or go elite at literally 10 years old. Yeah. You do have to decide early. So early. And we were doing homeschool, we were, I was picking up classes on the weekend to make up for credits that I had lost because I was training. Like, I did not have a life. And I think you and I both recognize like I'm not gonna do something I don't want to do. Yeah, I've always been that way. It's my greatest strength and sometimes my greatest weakness. You were my feisty child.

SPEAKER_02

And um if I don't want to do it, I'm not doing it. There were times I'm like, what the hell do I do with her? Like, she's she's so crazy feisty. But I kept telling myself this attribute of Grace, this characteristic is gonna be so powerful when she gets older. Really? Yeah. For as I mean, for as long as I can remember. Like I've always said that to myself. I've had I have conversations with myself all the time. Yeah, she is nothing like me, you know. Um, but I I do think that crossroad, you know, like okay, where does she see herself with this gymnastics thing was really important. It was a huge future life decision. Yeah, and and we were able to take back our family time, which was really special, you know, moderate training schedule.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, we moved me to wildfire, yeah. It was and they were a family-run business. So they had such a great understanding and appreciation for balance and geared toward college recruiting. And I was like, hell yeah. They produced a ton of college athletes, so we saw the the proof in the pudding, and yeah, they were great. I it was the best move of my life.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, and you were able to actually take back aspects of your teenage life that a lot of elites really never had the opportunity to do. And I'm grateful for those aspects of your life because I think it forged a lot of personal growth for you, um, a lot of social growth. You know, they were.

SPEAKER_01

I'm so glad you encouraged me to do things too, because like even I remember like it was yesterday, like driving from practice straight to a football game and getting doing my makeup in the car. Getting dressed in the car. Getting dressed in the car with like chalky legs and my hair is in a crazy messy bun and figuring out a way to fix it, throw a hat on, and make it work. And it's like, you never once discouraged me from that, you never once encouraged me. You kind of just let me be me and do whatever I felt like was my thing and what I wanted to do. And if I came to you and told you like I want to do this thing, like you were like, we're gonna find every resource possible to make it happen. Yeah, we're gonna make it work. I mean, shit, like we've done meets where I literally you brought my winter formal dress in the car and I threw it on in the car and we got to winter formal because I had a meet that night and we somehow made it work where I just showed up late. Always make it work, always make it work, yeah. And so, like anytime I have to get ready in the car now, it's like so funny. It like literally triggers those memories where I'm like getting ready for winter formal in the car after a meet is insane. But hey, like, best vault score of my I think high school career was that night. I remember, and it was such a fun one to be able to do both. Yeah, you never made me feel like I had to choose one, and so that was a really, really cool feeling. And I think it's gonna be really special when I do raise my own kids because I've had such an incredible experience with a parent who helped me feel really strong in who I am and be able to do everything I wanted to do.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, you know, yeah, it was it was teamwork. Oh my god, it was teamwork, but you know, I I do have to say that um like every one of those moments that we captured back for you were so special to me. Like I I loved picking out your prom dresses with you and you know, throwing it in the back of the car and you know, all of that. It just I don't know, it just it worked, and I forgot about how logistically it was challenging.

SPEAKER_01

Um against all odds, we made it work. I mean, even there were times where, like, just to give you an idea of the devotion of this woman to make my life easier and to make my career happen, like I had this crazy phobia growing up of hotels.

SPEAKER_02

Oh God.

unknown

Not to trigger you.

SPEAKER_02

Wait, and it started so, so young. So young. We were down at a meet in San Diego, you were maybe six years old. This is when you were first on a like an official season. And uh competing. And we had stayed in hotels and stuff before, no problem. We had traveled as a family, and so I could never have really expected this reaction from you, but random hotel, not a pricey one, like might have been a motel. Yeah. And uh they just happened to have drapes with so I had a nightmare.

SPEAKER_01

You had a nightmare that I was being attacked by bees. Yes. And I woke up screaming my head off.

SPEAKER_02

And I'm trying to figure out why.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, like what inspired this dream? And like we're up at 2 3 in the morning, and we have a meet the next morning at frickin' 8 a.m. Because compulsory is always at the ass crack dawn. Absolutely. And so I'm like, what is going on? You were like, what's going on? And then we like look around the room, we're trying to figure out what you're like, is there a bee in here? Like, yeah, did you see a bee in the bed bugs or something? But like anything. And and you're like, Did you watch a scary movie? Like what? Mind you, I'm six years old, and we look on the drapes of this motel and there's bees on it. Yep. And it was so weird. Yeah. Bees all over. It was so rare. Still to this day, I have no idea where that phobia came from. But it set the stage for really difficult times.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, I think it lasted like two years. Anytime we had to travel, we had this is when you were with Jim Max. We had to go to a meet in Vegas. In no Malibu. It was like no, it was it was northern. We drove up. I can't even remember. It was like in Westlake. And I had to book like a fancy room for you. Like princess. Like you got princess treatment. And I had to like really like mistake. Because it was like Hail Mary.

SPEAKER_01

You were trying to figure out like, okay, how can we get her to stay in this hotel?

SPEAKER_02

We had to spend the night because you were you were scheduled to start really early the next morning. Yeah. And I promised you every oh, you can watch what was the show you were watching back then. We would watch an ad nauseum. It's like the one with um, you know, the one with the brother and the sister, that one on Disney. I don't even know which one you're talking about. Was it Waverly Place or was this Waverly Place? That was the one. We just had it on a loop. Oh my god. And whatever you wanted for room service. But I remember literally pulling you out of the elevator like you were hanging on, like white knuckling. You didn't want to get out of the elevator when you heard we were going to a hotel room. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

It was wild. We got through it. I was like, yeah. I remember there was one time I refused to stay in a hotel and we had a meet. It was the Ladylock Invitational in Vegas. Oh my god. And this was level four, level five. And you literally woke up at three in the morning and drove us to Vegas because I would not fly and stay in a hotel.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I did do that for you. You did?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Thank God Dad was so understanding because, and thank God Dad loved me as much as you did because I know. Like, I honestly am shocked it didn't put a bad spin on y'all's marriage because it took you away from the family for a long time. I mean, you were traveling with me constantly.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. That was always kind of a concern I had in the back of my mind. Like, am I favoring her? Is it gonna be is it gonna affect the other siblings? Is it gonna be misunderstood by the other kids in the household? Are they gonna feel like you know, she's my favorite? And I always felt like I needed to come back from those trips and come back from you know like overcompensate almost.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um luckily I don't feel that way anymore. But I mean, on the flip side, I mean, how many moms and daughters do we know that don't have what we have? So like I know that every moment that we got through together is why we're here.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And is why I can't go a day without hearing your voice. Yeah. Or getting you on FaceTime.

SPEAKER_01

Like I I call her constantly. I call you every day.

SPEAKER_02

And I call you. Well, I'm afraid to call you sometimes.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, you don't call me, I call you.

SPEAKER_02

I check location first, I check to see if you're on Instagram first, and then I'm like, okay, cool. I think this is safe.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. She knows how chaotic my life is. She's like, you could be on a plane to frickin', you know, honestly Florida for all I know.

SPEAKER_02

Like the best thing that you ever did for me was share your Google Calendar.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, Tro.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Because dad will say, Hey, have you have you talked to Grace? Why don't you give her a call? And I'm like, hold on. She's recording with Jess today, actually. We can't talk to her yet. Yeah. Let's give her an hour. That's so funny. No, she might need to decompress after the podcast episode.

SPEAKER_01

We did talk about right before recording if I was high maintenance or not. Like my producer Wes asked if I was high maintenance or not.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And I'm now that we're talking, I'm like, I was so high maintenance, mom.

SPEAKER_02

I try to make you high maintenance with certain things because like I go semi-bougie with things. Like you do, for sure. I don't have a lot of materialistic things, but I do value like some of the nicer designer things.

SPEAKER_01

So you'll buy a designer thing and you keep in your closet for 10 years and you don't touch it.

SPEAKER_02

No, it's like my vintage Louis Vuitton bag. It's in your closet now. You know, no, I mean you're low maintenance. Um, like you're not, you're not like a high maintenance girly in the sense that you love to shop and you love make up my nails done. And I you have just started enjoying the whole makeup deal. Yeah. But you were always kind of more tomboy growing up. Like none of that stuff really mattered to you. And I I was cool with that. That was fine. Besides the hair. Besides the hair, but high maintenance, um, just in terms of mood management, maybe it's the truth. Yeah. I mean, uh a little ADHD. That was crazy. Was crazy to understand and navigate.

SPEAKER_01

Well, you had three other kids who were extremely smart, excelled in school, liked school. Loved school. Loved school. I mean, Julia's still in school. We thrived. I mean, like, Julia literally went back to school because she missed studying. Like, yeah, ooh, could not be me.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

We are not the same. And so to have three kids who were all so they all adopted dad's brain. They all inherited dad's brain. Yeah. And then there's me. And I'm just like the weirdo black sheep over here who has to go to frickin' brain camp to train her brain to not, you know, need medication for ADHD.

SPEAKER_02

Not go haywire. Yeah. Well, that's why I think gymnastics was so critically important for you because like I'm a big fan of holding off on any of the outside medications and draining your brain as much as possible so that you can navigate life and make decisions, make good decisions, and not just be crazy impulsive. You know, like that was my my biggest fear was that you were gonna do something impulsively, and I was just gonna be like, shit, I'm gonna have to pick up the pieces. Yeah. Um, but gymnastics and you know, even like conditioning, you know, we were an active, active family. So you'd get home from gym on the weekends and we'd still be going. Yeah. You know, we're at the beach, we're doing stuff. And I think that really helped kind of mitigate some of those stressful moments. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

You know, and and frustrations for you, I imagine, with an ADHD brain. Oh my gosh, there were so many times like at the dinner table when everyone's talking. I mean, I'm I'm one of four kids. Yeah, we're all young, everyone's yapping, everyone's talking. And I would get so agitated. And I remember now, like, I remember back then not understanding why. Yeah. And then when I got diagnosed, I'm like, that's a side effect. Absolutely. Like, even now, like as a freaking grown adult, white noise still agitates me.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Like if something's happening, even like when we're on FaceTime and your fridge is beeping because you left it open. And I'm like, mom, your fridge, your fridge.

SPEAKER_02

It's like it's a weird thing. I don't know why.

SPEAKER_01

It's so weird. But it's like, I've heard that that's like a side effect of ADHD, just because you literally, like, if I'm not medicated, I can literally go to a restaurant and hear every single conversation going on around me except for the one that's happening in front of me. And it's so debilitating as a woman trying to further her career and network and be in these big crowded spaces and talk to these, you know, really important people. Yeah. And so I'm really grateful that we figured out a way to like medicate on a lower dose that works for me. And I'm glad that you guys supported me in that. And like you recognize, yes, obviously there's things that we can work on on the holistic side. Right. But sometimes things just you just need a little extra boost, you know? And so I'm I'm definitely a huge advocate for trying everything outside of medication.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, trying everything conservatively first.

SPEAKER_01

Yes. And and then you also have the tools to be able to do that when you don't want to be on medication for a day or two or whatever, or you want to be on a lower dose and you don't have to be like full blown cracked out like the way I was in college. Right. Like Yeah, UCLA was insane. Required. Oh my God. I mean, training four or five hours a day, going straight into school, having to sit still for another four or five hours, and then after that, do homework and study and try to stay on top of my shit, and then I'll do it all over again, you know, day after day after day, four years straight. It's like, yeah, obviously I had to have a higher dose, but I remember and ASU would have required a much lower dose. Probably.

SPEAKER_02

Like UCLA was just like almost of the four kids, like she's my least academic kid, and she's at freaking UCLA. Like, wait a minute, this is how did we get we need to rewrite this story? Yeah. Like this is a chapter I didn't expect.

SPEAKER_01

I know that was the plot twist for sure. Yeah. But then I remember getting, you know, obviously when I tore my Achilles having panic attacks from the level of medication I was on, and being like, oh my gosh, like I'm not getting out this energy. Yeah. The same way I was required. You were stagnant, you were stagnant. You were stuck. For the first time in like my whole life. Yeah. And it was brutal. And we were living together at the time. I was living at home. Like, I don't even know how you dealt with me, honestly.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And then we were back in the car driving to get personal training, driving to get physical therapy.

SPEAKER_02

And that was huge.

SPEAKER_01

That was helpful.

SPEAKER_02

You without movement, you without some type of athletic outlet. You're I'm like the Tasmanian double. You're tricky. You're tricky. But but you know, the good news is I've I've had 28 years with you, and I think I finally get you. You do. I do. You do. I mean, like there's some mornings when I'm calling you and I'm like, okay, Grace, you gonna need to make a flight for you know, reservation for this, and we need to take care of this. And you're like, whoa, mom, I haven't had my coffee yet. Call me back in 20 minutes. I'm like, oh shit, I forgot that she needs her, you know, her morning routine. And I need to ease her into these things, you know. It's yeah, we're two very different humans. Yeah, I yeah, could not agree more. But that's why we love each other so much, maybe. I don't know. I know, we're like yin and yang. It's like God gave you what you needed, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So obviously, as much as there's been incredible times in my career, there have also been a lot of lows, and you've seen the lows. A lot of people have not seen the lows, but you've been so blessed to be around for all of the low lows. Yeah. When was there a time where you felt like I wanted to surrender? Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um I felt like I kept throwing tools your direction. Like whether it was physical therapy or hypnosis or uh sending a yoga instructor up to you even because I thought about that. She needs to move her body and she needs to stretch, and she, you know, like I I kept trying to find band-aids, solutions, um, because then I felt like I was in control to some degree. Yeah. Um, or helpful. Like I just, you know me. Like I live for, I live for my family, I live for my children. And, you know, like I I want to do everything in my power, in my control, to ease whatever stress, anxiety, disappointment there is. I mean, not sheltering you from it, because I know there's always lessons in those moments. Yeah. And I don't regret that you experienced any of those moments, but as a mom, they were tragically stressful for me. And like I probably needed therapy myself.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, like as a deep empath, yeah, you feel feelings deeper than I felt feelings at times. Yeah. I mean, even like breakups. Oh God. It's like I went through a breakup.

SPEAKER_02

Like they would call me still, like, and I was trying to like figure out a way to fix it. Yeah, you know, like that was dumb. Yeah. But you know, I did. I felt I felt everything that you felt probably exponentially more. Yeah. And I don't understand that really. I know. And I I don't know if I did that with the other kids as much. Yeah. It was a weird, it was a weird phenomenon.

SPEAKER_01

I think what the difference is though, is that no one else in the family needed you as much as I did. True. True, true. Facts. Absolutely. I needed you from the womb. Yeah, you did. And I think what's so crazy now is we're closer than ever, but I'm far more independent than I ever was. Yeah, it's weird.

SPEAKER_02

It's really weird. I wish I could go back, honestly, and do it all over again. Yeah. And be the be the human I am now. Yeah. And trust the human you are now. Like if I had known who you were gonna become and how you were gonna handle life, yeah, and like you were gonna take on these big dreams and be this amazing human, I don't think I would have been stressed. Like life would have been easy and good. And yeah, I mean, not that it wasn't good, but it Oh, you were stressed. I stressed you out all the time. I was stressed. I probably should have taken copious notes and written a book. Yeah. I still can. It was funny. Like we laugh about this. The the gym moms and I laugh about this all the time. They always wanted to go over early. This was during UCLA for warm-ups. And I'm like, oh shit, warm-ups. I hate warm-ups. Yes, stress me out. Because it it was either you would nail your vault, and I'm like, shoot, we should have saved that for competition. You know, like why? Why during warm-ups? Yeah. And finally I'd be like, you know, or you'd go out of bounds on your tumbling pass. I'm like, oh, too much power. Yeah. I'd exit. I exit the arena and I'd take laps. Would just take laps over and over again. I'm like, cool. Warm-ups are done. My cue was to go back in, take a seat. Yeah. And my friends were all there and they thought it was so hysterically funny.

SPEAKER_01

Well, and to give people an idea too, you don't even drink alcohol. I grew up around parents who don't drink. I did disc literally. Well, that's what I was about to say. Is you were so stressed out. You literally made your own drink. We call them Champagne Lorraine.

SPEAKER_02

Champagne Lorraine.

SPEAKER_01

Where it's champagne and grapefruit juice.

SPEAKER_02

It's a glorified mimosa.

SPEAKER_01

It's yeah. It's just a little fun spin on a mimosa, but that was.

SPEAKER_02

I think it was Hallie Mosette Mosette's mom who took it. That coined the term. I don't no, no, no. I don't think she she didn't coin the term, but I think she liked that drink. She put you onto it. Yeah. I mean the rest of the parents were doing shots. Oh my god. So yeah, but it was- I'm glad you went with the champagne, Lorraine, though. We had so much fun though. It was like I I wouldn't trade those moments for anything. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

That was a really cool thing to see too, because I had come from a club where the parents were insane. The parents were extremely involved. And I think where the difference is between you being involved and the parents that were involved that I had seen in the past was these parents were involved because they wanted something bigger than what their kid wanted.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And you wanted as much as I wanted.

SPEAKER_02

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

Every time. Like the only reason you were even remotely invested was because you felt my level of passion and my level of investment. And you just matched the energy. I was just along for the ride. Literally.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. I was there, I was there. And this is why I loved to travel with you guys so much too, is because if you just needed me in your space.

SPEAKER_01

Oh my god, there were so many times where I was like so anxious for a meet. Yeah. And I would just text her and I'd be like, Can you come to my room?

SPEAKER_02

Show up in your room.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And we'd watch a show. Yeah. We'd just vibe, hang out. It was just our togetherness just allowed you, I think, to be free. Thank God you were there. There were so many times. I mean, when Miss Val took my credential at Nationals and you were and I were in the living or in the hotel room and I'm sobbing.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And I'm like, my teammate's there, and she's competing, and she's like, I don't know what to do with this. Like, this is not my problem. You know what I mean? Not that she was not wanting to be there for me, but it's such a heavy situation.

SPEAKER_02

And it's and you hate to burden your team. No, of course it's not. Like she has to compete.

SPEAKER_01

I'm not competing now. And it's like, yeah. So it was nice to be able to go to your room, kind of separate myself from the team, touch some grass, be, you know, separate myself. You needed mommy.

SPEAKER_02

That wasn't it at all. It was just, I think you're my rock. Through the years, you just started to identify your mom as something more than your mom. Yeah. Like all of a sudden, I think I was just kind of like this safe little space.

SPEAKER_01

And you were the only one that really got it. Because you know my intentions, you know my character, you know who I am to my core.

SPEAKER_02

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

So then it really wasn't like I had to explain myself. I didn't have to mask or be something I wasn't because you've been there through it all. So you know the level of pain that I was feeling.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And you were able to empathize and sympathize with me through a lot of really hard moments. And I think that's what got me through it. Cause I was like, okay, I'm not alone.

SPEAKER_02

No.

SPEAKER_01

Ever. And even though you never knew what it was like to compete at the level I was at, it was like you still knew because you knew everything that had gone into it. You knew every practice, every hour that I had trained to get to the point that I was at.

SPEAKER_02

So it's like but that was because you shared that with me and you let me in. Like I feel like a lot of parents don't have those opportunities. Yeah. You know, so you were part of that too. Yeah. Like a lot of kids are like, back off. Like, you know, you don't need to come to every meet, mom. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01

Like, oh yes, I do. I remember with a meet that you couldn't come to. And I'm like, University of Arizona.

SPEAKER_02

I still remember it was, and it was a special Mother's Day tribute. Shoot me. Like, yeah, you were you were sad.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Just so just knowing I'm in the stands, I think was important for you. You know, I I don't know. Maybe that's why I took on the role that I did with UCLA. Yeah, you got to be the gym mom. You were a team mom. I was the team liaison or the parent liaison or whatever.

SPEAKER_01

You were a team mom. It was sick. You were like you made smashing shirts for everybody. I did. You gave everyone pom poms, you organized itineraries for everyone to travel. Like you were that girl. I made it for three years of my career.

SPEAKER_02

I made it way too big, maybe. It was so good.

SPEAKER_01

No, people literally like mourned when my when I graduated because they missed you.

SPEAKER_02

Like, you know, for me, it was what can I do to increase the level of hype, support, yeah, and love that you and your teammates are gonna feel when they look up and see this huge community in the stands. I felt like we had the biggest community of fans, uh, traveling groupies. Like it was crazy, and parents, you know, it's like we were all bought in and it was fun for you guys. It was so fun. They were my best friends, yeah, you know. And when the season was over at the end of the year, it was sad, you know, and Miss Fowl did a great job of keeping us all unified and and together, and we all were like one big family. And I I still will sometimes look at other teams, they're lining up to send their teams off to the meets or whatever. They'll show like little clips during NCAA, and I'm like, not anywhere close. Yeah, like we were so good. You were a seen.

SPEAKER_01

We were so unified, yeah, and it was really special, yeah. Yeah, even though you weren't in the stands for that one meet out of millions that I had. I had it, I had a decent excuse though. So you did. You had surgery. I did have surgery. Um and as painful as it was, I remember trying to like reel it in and not show too much emotion, even though I know that you you needed a little bit of emotion to know that you were needed and that you were appreciated. Like I missed if I'm not there. Yeah, but I I had to find a really solid balance between the two where I didn't want to make you feel guilty for not being there. Yeah, I know. But you were there for some pretty insane moments. What moment was your favorite?

SPEAKER_02

Oh my god, there's so many. Which one sticks out like the most? Um, obviously, you're 10. And I love the fact that we have photographs. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01

We're gonna have to overlay the photos. They're so good. I haven't seen my dad cry.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, we were all in tears.

SPEAKER_01

He was sobbing.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it was crazy.

SPEAKER_01

It was really cool.

SPEAKER_02

It was crazy. That was a really special moment. I loved seeing you close out your career with a 995 vault. I was like, thank God, her nemesis finally. Yeah, like for you to finally have a moment. And we didn't even know at the time it was my last meet. No, we had no idea. Yeah, that was pretty insane. Those were big moments, and it was also, yeah, navigating the whole COVID thing was tricky, hard, sad, you know, bittersweet in the sense that you know we all got to be together under one roof again. Yeah, we were all home together. It's crazy. Yeah, but I mourned the loss of your career too. That was hard for me, and I I kept thinking that maybe there would be some kind of resolution. About, you know, NCAA offering another year possibly. Yeah. But um you were you were poised to do so well at nationals. I always I think I often wonder about what that would have looked like.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. You know, like you were just our team also figured it out. I mean, we got to a point where it was like we could be national champions again. I was like, I could be everything was falling in. I could be floor champion. I was second in the nation when COVID hit. You were, which was insane. But yeah, I mean, what would have been? But also I'm so grateful that that happened because I don't think I'd be doing gymnastics to this day. I mean, did you think I'd still be doing gymnastics to this day? Hell no. When I told her that I was getting into like stunts and doing gymnastics again, she's like, Are you freaking kidding me? Can you give me a break? Like, I've literally had my cortisol levels through the roof for the last 22 years.

SPEAKER_02

You gave me like two months off. I did. Like two months. No, I gave you, I gave you Utah State. I used to Utah State. I gave you like two years to get it. But that was stressful. I had to like worry about oh crap, she's never driven in snow before.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's too. That's fair. That's fair. There's always something to worry about.

SPEAKER_02

But that was that was fun too. Yeah. I mean, it it had its challenges, but it was fun as well. But yeah, you gave me a little break. But you were still training in that gym as well. You were training when the girls weren't practicing. Later though. Okay. Like seven months later. But the stunt thing, that was a little stressful for me. Because I felt like gymnastics, like everything you were doing, like I I never question your safety. Um, but when you take on new challenges, because I know how competitive and I know how stubborn you are, yeah. It's just like, ooh, does she know when to say no? And the Martha Stewart commercial was a perfect example of that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Like you've learned now how to say no or how to advocate for yourself, yeah. So that you protect your your physical body and your spiritual peace. Yeah. You know, like I feel I feel a lot more confident in your abilities to discern what's safe, what's controllable, and what you have to pass on. Yeah. Until the Jeep trip. And then I'm like, yeah, all bets are off.

SPEAKER_01

She's talking about when I did that Moab swing. Yeah. I had to, I had to wait. Wait, this girl hates Ferris wheels. This girl, like, she was the only one in her family. You I we went we went to Disneyland one time and I refused to go on any rides. I literally watched you guys.

SPEAKER_02

I moved 40 minutes from Disneyland. Yeah. And I love Disneyland and I love roller coasters.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I hate them.

SPEAKER_02

Could like I forced you on the Tower of Terror. And I was traumatized. I felt like I stigmatized you for years with that.

SPEAKER_01

You literally traumatized me, huh?

SPEAKER_02

I did.

SPEAKER_01

I remember yelling at you afterwards. You are not part of this. You're like, this is gonna be so fun. And I'm looking over at my siblings, my brother's like, yeah, this is so fun. And like, I hate all of you. Yeah. Like this was awful.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Well, that's what I'm saying. Like, I I don't understand. Like, how did we transition to jumping off cliffs now?

SPEAKER_01

The Jeep team was relying on me to do stuff. They told me to do it. Peer pressure. Professional peer pressure. Okay. No, we just need impulse control. Are you kidding? My freaking watch was at 150 for an hour. Like I was unwell. Thank God I had a good poker face and I was just out there being quiet and like in the corner and everyone. Until you cried. Yeah. Okay. Well, we don't need to talk about that. Emotional early. Yeah. I will say that has been the coolest part, I think, of my character arc is being able to be vulnerable and cry.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I had I couldn't cry for the longest. You were a beast.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. All during your childhood. Like there wasn't a lot that upset you.

SPEAKER_01

But then when I got into college and I was in like fight or flight, I I don't think I let myself cry in front of people for a good chunk of my career.

SPEAKER_02

That was probably some kind of a defense mechanism, maybe.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. I like seeing you cry. We cry together. I love I love watching these podcasts and seeing you cry for other people. Yeah. Like to me, that shows that you've really you've collected really special people in your life and created this community. And to you, you know, for you to have these really loving, compassionate moments with other people, other athletes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

It's pretty, it's a good thing. How did you feel about me shifting into content and podcasting and YouTube and Red Bull cliff diving? Like, I mean, I kind of threw a lot at you in a short span of time. Um, content I was good with because you eased into it. To be fair, I was living at home when I first started doing content.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And I remember telling you and dad, and they were like just little TikTok trending videos.

SPEAKER_02

I'm like, cool.

SPEAKER_01

This is this is silly, but well, dad's like, how are you gonna pay your bills with Instagram? Like he was a little skeptical. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Because I mean he's the dog.

SPEAKER_01

No, he does not understand that.

SPEAKER_02

But he does love the reels.

SPEAKER_01

He does love my videos, yes. And he loves the podcast. But yeah, like and he's now brave enough to comment here and there. Yeah. But I remember like telling you guys, you know, I think I want to really take a stab at it and like do it full on and really commit to this because we were kind of half-assing it for a bit. I was doing coaching, I had done the mentorship thing. Fitness apps, yeah. I had like a fitness app that was like, I just felt like I was I was doing workouts in your backyard. I just felt like nothing was really firing me up. And I'm one of those people that can't half-ass anything, you know me, like full-fledged or nothing. And so I'm shocked that you guys had the faith in me to support me through that because it was probably very delusional seeming. I still remember you called about Red Bull.

SPEAKER_02

That was that was like your first big project, I think. Yeah. And it really forced you outside of your comfort zone.

SPEAKER_01

It was my first time traveling internationally by myself. First time being a host.

SPEAKER_02

That was stressful for me. I'm like, yeah, is she gonna forget her passport? Like, is she gonna be able to fill out the paperwork without me? But um, but I was good with it. You offered to come with. You're like, should I buy a ticket? Should I meet you in Greece? Absolutely. Um the way they tested you, the way they challenged you, yeah, was terrifying for me. Like seeing some of seeing me repel down a 200-foot cliff in Ireland. Terrifying for me. Like, does she have the right gear? Is she is she warm enough? No and no. No and no, absolutely not. Um, but I think those forged a lot of independence and growth for you, and those experiences I think caused you to like pivot hard in this role. Yeah. And take on even, you know, way more stuff outside of gymnastics. Like it's just been Jim, Jim, Jim for so long. And then it's just like, oh my God, she's so good at so many other things. Yeah. And you talked, well, we've talked endlessly about you versus the other kids in the family and how you were the least academic, but I'm like, but her brain is the coolest. Like, I I don't understand it. Yeah. I don't I've never understood what really motivates your choices in life, or you know. Honestly, me neither. But but yeah, I'm celebrating you every day. I think it's and you inspire me. Yeah. You know, you've inspired me to let go of, you know.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah. She's currently reading The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Thought.

SPEAKER_02

I am chapter four. I do, I do have moments where I'm like, oh God, like, yeah. Like it's just so in your face. Yeah. But um I do think that it's healthy for me.

SPEAKER_01

I think we were put on an earth for each other for sure.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, no doubt.

SPEAKER_01

Because we balance each other out very well.

SPEAKER_02

But the podcast, um crazy, crazy, because I think in a like within a span of like two months, you pulled this together.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And telling me you're organizing this launch party, I'm like, wait a minute. Like, she doesn't know how to do that. Does she know how to do that? Like, how is she gonna negotiate all of this? And I was so thankful that like you aligned with an agency. I'm like, thank God, like someone's gonna be able to do that, UTA and DBA.

SPEAKER_01

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02

Reading over her contracts and pushing her into, you know, these really good relationships with brands, and you know, like kind of taking my role over. Yeah, you know, like someone else is out there looking out for her and protecting her and building her up and hyping her up because you deserve that.

SPEAKER_01

I know that was so special that when you came, you and dad came to the berries event for the podcast launch, and my agents had gone up to you and knew who you were, and you know, they were like, She's crushing, which they loved you. Yeah, it was so cool.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it's so it's it's like going to school and like the dreaded teacher-parent conference. I'm like, oh, do I have to talk to you about Grace right now? Did she write her number on the bookshelf again? What is she doing?

SPEAKER_01

Okay, that was the only time I ever went to the principal's office. I learned my phone number the week before, and someone said, You don't know your phone number. And I was like, Oh, really? Yeah. And then I wrote it on the wall. I'm sure it was a cute boy. And then I got in trouble. Yeah. Well, someone did pull on my pigtails and I chubbed them to the ground. So pretty on brand. I'm not gonna.

SPEAKER_02

I would expect nothing less.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, yeah. I honestly I'm really curious what you think our relationship or how you think our relationship has evolved over 28 years. I hate that we keep saying 28 because I'm not even 28 yet, but well, I used to always say that you were my best friend.

SPEAKER_02

And I don't think I really understood like the power of those words. Yeah. And just the depth of what it meant until we started living it. And um Well, until it became an adult. No, it wasn't even it was much it was much later. It was way later, G. Um Yeah, you know, you wanting to live on your own and do these things on your own. And like sometimes I'll read your captions and captions on your reels, and I'm like, who is she? Like, she's brilliant, she's smart, and she's creative, and like I admire you so much. And I sometimes have to pinch myself, like, okay, I I had a part in in creating you, and you played the biggest role. I'd like to think I did, but it it hasn't been until recently. I'm like through and through, like you really truly are my best friend. Like you're my go-to. I'm like, shit, she's busy right now. I need to call her because I'm I'm having a moment, you know. Like we've gotten to that point where um there's now so much love and respect, and I count on you to tell me, you know, mom, reel it in, or you you're you're my realest, truest. Um you're you're my best friend. And um I think it was cute to say it all those years, you know, because we relied on each other so much. And I I think I relied on you needing me as much as you relied on me. I I think maybe at times maybe it was unhealthy, but it got us here. So I wouldn't trade any of those difficult times, you know. Like I can count the number of times that we like fought with each other, like we don't fight. No, I feel I just I feel really blessed. And um, yeah, like to be able to do trips with you, like yeah, when you invited me to the Red Bull Rampage event, I'm like, no whether mom gets to do this really cool shit, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

You know, like this is really special.

SPEAKER_02

Or like when I had you meet me in Oslo and we went to Copenhagen on the girls' trip because I was working out there with Red Bull, and yeah, that was and I always wanted to be like on the fringes, like I never wanted to insert myself or impose myself, and you always brought me in. Like we're all going out to dinner with the divers, mom. Come on, yeah. And um that's a gift, yeah, because I would have been just happy sitting in my hotel room waiting for you to come home after the after party, or you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01

Like, yeah, no girl, we're bringing to the after party.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I mean, honestly, like it's hard for me to outgrow and expand beyond that role of I just want to do everything in my power to make life easier for you. Yeah. You know, like, oh, that hotel was garbage, or you know, let's oh it's not it's not close enough to the event. I don't want you walking home at night. We moved, you know. Like that that's always been my role.

SPEAKER_01

But I feel like now it's like you're not living for me, like you're living with me now. Yeah. Like we're not mom and daughter. I need you constantly. It's like, no, we choose each other. Absolutely, which is really cool. And it's it's a relationship I'll never ever take for granted.

SPEAKER_02

No.

SPEAKER_01

So grateful for you. And geographically, like physically, we need to always be close. Oh my gosh. During the launch of this podcast was honestly one of the toughest times because I couldn't go home and see you. Right. And you were going through some health stuff.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And that was before, I mean, shit. Like I went through the breakup. Yeah. Which was brutal. 2025 was was huge. A shit year. Yeah. That was a rough one. Like, craziest character arc development ever. Like, went through the worst breakup of my life. You dropped everything, came and spent the day with me and Corey, and we binge watched traitors at the house.

SPEAKER_02

We thought, we thought this was your person, husband. We thought, you know, you guys were talking about marriage and weddings and and um to to endure that kind of sorrow with you, I think that bonded us even further. You know, it's just um Yeah. And then you had health stuff. I had some health issues, hospitalized. You made time for me. Like you brought in cards of humanity and we laughed at my cards against humanity. I'm like, the nurses thought we were the cutest family. Um you know, snuck in some yummy food for me.

SPEAKER_01

It was just, yeah, like I think that was the first time too where you saw me as an adult where I was dropping everything for you, the way that you dropped everything for me. You did do that. So please don't get sick again.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you for that. No. No, it's it's it's not on my it's not on my agenda.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Thank God you and Dad are so healthy now. Like it it just it continues to inspire me, and you guys have just raised us very well. Thank you. Oh my god. Wesley. Shit. Okay. Um, last one. What's a moment you felt overwhelmingly proud but never told me about? Oh.

SPEAKER_02

This is this is a hard one because there's been a lot of them actually. Um I've been really, really proud of the times as an adult where you've done whatever it takes to pull everyone in our family together. Like I feel like you're the catalyst sometimes, you know, and I I think that's really special, and I never really saw that coming from you. Yeah. I mean, because I'm like, oh, she's selfish at times, you know. Because you had to be, yeah. It was just like it was just kind of a a side effect of your life to be selfish. Um but seeing you think outside of yourself, but especially related to our family and our family life, like it's really cool to see that. Um, really cool to see and get to know your friends.

SPEAKER_01

Like I I get that event was really special.

SPEAKER_02

Well, not even just the launch. I get to know people that are important to you. Like, I yes, you're an adult and you live your own little badass life, but I get to be a part of it and I get to know the players, and to see you choose really cool people as friends and to see how important you are to them, like that says everything to me about you doing life and and succeeding in life. So gymnastics was great, and like all those moments were really special, and yeah, they're logged in my memory and my heart forever, but seeing you um relate to other people and heal other people and be kind and loving and show grace to other people. I don't know, that to me is really special and makes me feel like I did a really good job.

SPEAKER_01

You did. Thank you. Good job, Mom. Thanks, G. Yeah. All right. Wow, we covered a lot. We might have to have you on every month because it's so fun talking to you. I honestly feel like it's this is better than FaceTime. I know. Yeah. Can you just move up here already? I know. I'm so over working on it, working on it. Yeah, we're laying down the groundwork for sure. Yeah. Dod, I've planned I've planted seeds. We're looking at real estate. Yeah. Um, so let's shift into our little segment here on the show. Okay. You've listened to every episode, so you already know what's coming. It's called Dear Athlete.

SPEAKER_02

But I'm not an athlete. I'm Dear Mom. Yeah. But this is more for dear moments.

SPEAKER_01

This is more for the parents of extremely devoted athletes. Love that. Because you have more experience than most.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Having so much on your plate on top of dealing with me, you know, being so diehard passionate about my sport.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Especially it being such a demanding sport, an expensive sport, a time-consuming sport, you know. So, first question is what's one piece of advice you would give to a parent whose kid is getting into gymnastics? Gymnastics or any sport? Gymnastics, specifically.

SPEAKER_02

Um you need to trust and let go of the leash a little bit. Like give your kid some space, but always be present. So always be there. Always be there. Be there. Um, but allow them a little bit of independence. I mean, within safe parameters. Yeah, you know, like, and I think that's where um it's really important as a parent to do your homework, to do your research, make sure you're sending your kid, especially in gymnastics, to a gym that safe is transparent, um, that is very focused on the welfare and safety of the children in the gym. Um, and I felt like we always did that with you. Um and then because I trusted the facility, the coaches, um I could give you that space. Yeah. And I think that's really important.

SPEAKER_01

But yeah, just being present, be present. And you always let me have an out, which I I always say that was the biggest thing. And I will forever give that advice to parents that direct message me. There's so many times I get messages like, I want to put my kid in gymnastics, but I don't know how to do this, this, or that, or like, I want to get my kid to UCLA. How do I do that? And it's like, do you want to go to UCLA? Yeah, it's not about you. Yeah, it's about what your kid wants.

SPEAKER_02

Well, I think it's important always to to honor a commitment. Like if you signed up for something, like see it through. Yeah, I'm not saying you know, have an out and exercise it whenever you want. I think but you let my passion be the driving force. Absolutely. And and if there was ever a moment where you were doubting yourself or doubting your choices, like we talked it through. Yeah. And yeah, absolutely. But I think keeping like an open conversation going with your kids, yeah, being an opening earlier every day. Like it's not like what did you do or what you know, what skill did you get? It's like, well, how did you feel today? Yeah. Like, did you come home feeling accomplished? Do you feel stronger? Do you feel more empowered? Like, you know, it wasn't about results. Those, those are the moments, those are the stories that really. Really filled my heart. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I know I always felt like focusing on results was never a thing for me growing up because I never was really winning, right? I was never the top kid. I was always kind of in the middle. You were always like the underdog a little bit. A little, but I was never consistently at the top or anything. Well, this is like I'm talking like early stages of gymnastics. Because it really developed grace. Yeah, it developed my approach to like gymnastics as a whole. But I do believe, like, even though sometimes I think it's because I never won, I never put my gratification in winning. I think it was because of you. Maybe. I think because you never put an emphasis on winning.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Yeah. It was, it's about the experience. Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. Second question. What's something you wish you knew back when I was first starting out? First starting out in gymnastics?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Or in this world? Ooh. When I first came out of the womb, it's Mother's Day, so when you first came Oh, I was shocked. What was something you wish you knew back when I first came out of the womb?

SPEAKER_02

This is a hard one, Grace. Like, I guess I wish I would have known that you were gonna be feisty and crazy. It was gonna turn out okay. No, but I mean like, but but that I would I would know how to react, I would know how to respond. Like, like I I guess I wish back then I would know that I could trust myself. Yeah. Even though I didn't know what I was doing. Like I felt like the type of kid you were tested me in ways that the other kids didn't. And um I don't I don't I don't know if I answered that question really. I mean, that's what's how you feel. So I think you answered it right.

SPEAKER_01

When you first said that, I mean you said it earlier too, where you just you you wish that you knew how we were gonna end up because you probably wouldn't have worried so much.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, I would love to go back. It'd be it would be way more fun, I think. I don't think I would stress about anything. Like you come home and tell me stuff and I'd be like, I'm shocked you don't have a full head of gray hair.

SPEAKER_01

You're gonna be fine. Yeah. You'll be fine. I swear I stressed you out more than anyone. Last question What's something you wish more parents understood about what really matters in sports?

SPEAKER_02

Um, I'm gonna say sports gives us as parents a really unique and special opportunity to um relate to your children differently. You know, it's outside of the house, it's outside of the family. It can just be you and the child, um, and allowing the experiences, the lessons to kind of help contribute to what we were doing as parents, yeah. Like I think that's really special and it's it's something that I can't really see happening without support, you know.

SPEAKER_01

And um it gave you a really unique opportunity to also show up for your kids in a way that I don't think you could really do anywhere else, and us really understand what it's like to have unyielding support, yeah, and immeasurable love. Yeah, which is really cool. Yeah, it's really cool. And holy crap, do we have some core memories that came out of that?

SPEAKER_02

We do. I just I think it's really important to encourage parents to be there, yeah, to show up, be present, be at every event, you know, be in the car with them. Don't don't pass that opportunity off to someone else. Don't hire.

SPEAKER_01

I know you hated the carpool.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I I wasn't a fan of the carpool because I felt like some of some of the most vulnerable moments were in the car. We're in the car. Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_01

Well, now they're on the pod.

SPEAKER_02

They're on the pod.

SPEAKER_01

Now our most vulnerable vulnerable moment is on the pod, documented forever. Absolutely. And I am just so so grateful. My grandbabies will see this. I know.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Hopefully, those come at some point. They're like, Grandma. Grandma, you were so cool. Yeah. Well, thank you for coming on, mom. Yeah. I love you. I love you too. Happy Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to you too. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. You guys are super human. I say this every time I see a woman who's pregnant, giving birth, having kids. You guys are the real heroes. And to have a mom who's devoted her whole life to her kids, I know exactly what it takes. And I've seen every ounce of you given to others. And I'm just so grateful that I can give back to you and support you the way that you supported me. Thanks, honey.

SPEAKER_02

Love you. I love you more.

SPEAKER_01

All right, you guys. Thank you so much for tuning in to Athletes After Hours. I'm your host, Gracie Kramer, and we'll see you next Wednesday. Let's go. Let's go. Oh my god, thanks so much, Bob. Give me a hot. I love you.