Am I the only one who loves a good photo of a big moment? Some of our best moments come and go so quickly that it’s hard to really appreciate them. You have to experience them, but once they’re over, don’t you sometimes want to experience them again?
I remember countless moments that I didn’t want to forget. Sometimes I had my camera ready to capture that moment, sometimes someone else did. You can’t keep the smells, the emotions, the purely tangible parts of the experience, but you can have that little snippet that brings it all back to you.
The photos I received from Justin Britton, the photographer capturing Elle’s race for the Messenger at the 2024 Paris Olympics, gave me (and everyone who viewed them) the opportunity to get a glimpse of this global stage where one of our own from Franklin County, Vermont was out there giving it our all on the track.
It’s crazy to watch someone I know (a little) compete on such a big stage. I have met Elle over the years on the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail, I see her husband Jamie at the Hannaford Grocery Store in Enosburg, her parents Annie and Charlie and her sister Jinny come to Richford Junior-Senior High School to watch basketball games
This is a really small community and when one of us succeeds, many of us are filled with excitement, pride and joy. That’s what makes this community so special. We usually look out for each other, help out in times of crisis and ask each other who got a new car because let’s face it, you just know what everyone on “your street” is driving. When you know, you know!
Thank you, Elle, for representing Vermont with courage, determination, skill and passion! I was driving to a wedding on Saturday when the women’s 1500m final took place. My husband Adam and I had carefully chosen a good place to stop where we had enough WiFi to connect my laptop to my phone, watch the race and publish the article.
Hurricane Debby had ripped through the Adirondack region, downing power lines and leaving many people in distress, but we found a small gas station about a half hour from the wedding venue, got set up, and watched Elle do what she does better than most people in the world: RUN!
I knew that Justin Britton was on the other side of the world looking through a gallery of photos taken recently at the race track. He had captured what I hadn’t, so we were able to share these photos with you from the race we all cheered for. And it’s pretty awesome!
