As a coach, when you have a dedicated athlete you spend endless hours with them and in turn get to know the family quite well. It was during this period that I was lucky enough to have had the opportunity to get to know Wendy and her beautiful family.
In all my time of knowing Wendy I never heard her say an unkind word nor did I ever see her without a smile. I remember seeing her often after practices to pick up Maya and she would always pass on that genuine smile and a warm hello. She was never in too much of a rush to talk with you or lend a helping hand. After a competition she would be one of the first people to say to me “good job”. If the competition didn’t go so well she would never point out any shortcomings and only wish me luck for the next time. I was a young coach at the time making plenty of mistakes but Wendy never made me feel inexperienced or incapable. She is that special type of person that can encourage you without belittling and challenge you without criticizing. She allowed me to make my own decisions, make my own mistakes and help me grow as a coach as well as a person alongside with her daughter. She would often put an idea in my ear and challenge me to think about something in a different way yet regardless respected my opinions. She was filled with the spirit of bringing people together and empowering others to be their best.
One only needs to look at any member of the Beaudry family to see how beautiful and loving she truly was. Wendy’s spirit and love is everywhere and to me it is inspiring. Usually as a coach your greatest wish is that your athletes learn some valuable life lessons from you that they can carry with them for the rest of their lives. After seeing Wendy’s love and spirit come out in Maya everyday, well in this case, it is I who had the opportunity to learn. I consider it my extreme good fortune to have known her and her wonderful family.
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