Danell Leyva and John Orozco: Fathers deserve medal in parenting
Danell Leyva and John Orozco have both received unwavering support from their fathers, who both set a standard for modern parents trying to connect with their kids through sport. Where's the gold medal for parenting?
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Not all fathers are fortunate enough to be right there on the floor during the action for the world to see. Take for example the story of John Orozco, born in the Bronx, N.Y. now of Colorado, whose parents William and Damaris Orozco have been in the stands, weeping, cheering and stretching their arms toward the son who has struggled so mightily in these Olympic games.
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Lisa Suhay, who has four sons at home in Norfolk, Va., is a children’s book author and founder of the Norfolk (Va.) Initiative for Chess Excellence (NICE) , a nonprofit organization serving at-risk youth via mentoring and teaching the game of chess for critical thinking and life strategies.
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The obvious differences in skin tone between John and his parents has given rise to internet buzz asking if he is their biological or adopted child. His official bio on the USA Gymnastic website does not say he is adopted.
"While we do get calls from people asking if he's adopted, John has never talked to us about this issue," says Kevin Loughery, a USA Gymnastics media rep. "He refers to them as his parents and everything he puts out shows how tight knit this family is. It's the family part that's important. Right?"
Right.
Personally, I don’t think it makes a difference who you were born to as much as who you were raised by.
One of the most tear-inducing tales of these games is that of how, when the family began to struggle in this economy, John Orozco took a part-time job and handed his first check to his father – not mom – and told him it was to pay the mortgage. The fact that his father both accepted it with good grace and pride and not defensiveness or anger is clear in the way the family tells the story to the world.
NBC ran the clip of the mortgage story right before Orozco's mistake-ridden performance in the all-around last night. Having had my own home in foreclosure this year and having a son who helped out in the same way, I did not stop crying long enough to see Orozco falter and then had to cry again again for his sorrow and that of his family.
Acts of selflessness such has his come from a nurturing environment wherein a child grows up knowing that all has been given to him or her and that the thing to do is shoulder what you need to in return. That was Team USA Family long before he was on the Olympic team.
Both Leyva and Orozco are cases that prove that better than genetic codes. Sure, the natural talent came from biology, but the spirit, strength to win, and the even greater strength it takes to cope with losing, comes from the father and mother who are there doing the hugging, hopping, whooping, ear tweaking, and weeping for the children they knew were theirs from the moment they laid eyes on them, no matter who bore them.
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