Free Off Balance: A Memoir by Dominique Moceanu Page B

time. I remembered Tata saying that they didn’t have any money or insurance, and that’s why they went all the way to Salem Hospital for the delivery.
    “Supposedly, there was a Romanian doctor at Salem Hospital who told my parents that they wouldn’t be able to afford the medical care you needed. I believe my parents wanted to give you a better life. That’s how everything happened,” I said, almost cringing at how matter-of-fact I make it sound.
    I added, “I hope you had a good childhood.”
    Taken out of context, my comment may sound trite, but it was, in fact, one of the most sincere moments of our discussion. Christina and I didn’t have a good childhood in many respects. We lived in fear of Tata’s wrath much of our youth, and I was hoping that Jennifer was adopted into a loving family and that her childhood was better than ours. I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard Jennifer talk about her “great” childhood.
    “Oh yeah, I did,” she said without hesitation. “I am very fortunate. I could’ve been somewhere horrible, but it was pretty much a miracle. My parents called in specifically for me at the right time. I was adopted at three months old, but it was official at one year. The social worker said she’d never seen a couple call in for a specific child and get her in such a short time.”
    Jennifer went on to say that her parents never treated her like she was adopted and certainly never treated her like she was disabled. They taught her that she could do anything. She said they raised her “well” and that she had a great childhood, and I could tell she genuinely meant it.
    “We missed out on a lot of years of our lives together,” I said. “My sister Christina and I have a special bond and are so close. To know that I had another sister that I could’ve been an older sister to years ago, that would’ve been very nice, but now it’s not too late.We still have the rest of our lives to get to know each other and to build that relationship. I am glad that we still have time to make it right … that’s the positive part.”
    “Definitely, I agree, I mean we’re all still so young,” she said. Her positivity was contagious, and I couldn’t help but smile.
    With that, Jennifer said she had to get ready for work but looked forward to talking again soon. I glanced at the clock and was surprised to see that we’d been talking for an hour. I had to laugh at myself for being so nervous to call in the first place—that was, hands down, the fastest one-hour phone call I’d ever had. Jennifer was warm, outgoing, and friendly, and certainly very easy to talk to even under the circumstances. And, when I asked where she worked, her reply somehow didn’t surprise me at all.
    “Disney World,” she said.
    The happiest place on earth , I said to myself.

Chapter 5
    TINY DANCER
    N ever could I have been prepared for what I was about to go through when I moved to Houston to begin training with Bela and Marta Karolyi at the age of ten.
    In Tampa, LaFleur’s gym had been a haven—my home away from home. I loved it there. Loved the atmosphere, my fellow athletes, the gym friends and extended family I’d made, and most of all, I loved my coaches. Jeff LaFleur was the first coach, and really the first person outside of my family, who had believed in me. He told me that I could achieve great things in gymnastics. For an eight-year-old giving it allshe’s got, that goes a long, long way. I was excelling as an athlete, and my confidence both in and out of the gym was higher than ever during my training with Jeff. It was one of the happiest times of my childhood, the first time I was comfortable in my own skin. I felt strong, ready for anything.
    The move to Texas happened so quickly. In the spring of my third-grade year, my parents announced that I was going to Houston to be evaluated by Bela and Marta Karolyi, and if they accepted me as one of their gymnasts, our entire family would move to Texas for