London Olympics: Closing Ceremony and Home Sweet Home

Editor's Note: Cindy Bevilacqua, co-owner of and a Westtown resident, heads home after her

Aug. 13, 2012

Well, Closing Ceremony was a blast. We walked in with everyone – all countries together, as if we are all united and it was just a great feeling.

As we were walking to the stadium from the Olympic Village there were tons of volunteers saying thank you to us. The real THANK YOU goes to them. Without the thousands of volunteers this would not have been so successful. So our hats off to all of them.

As I walked into the stadium it was amazing, the crowds cheering and waving and all for us. As I waved back a feeling of pride came over me and I was so humbled to be able to represent our country.

As the night went on, some of us worked our way towards the stage. I didn’t get up front but was on one of the side extensions and could see the big stage and some of the performers were within reaching distance. As the night went on, so did the time. I never made it back to the OV until 1 a.m.-ish. Of course we had to stop and get something to eat one last time at the dining hall before we headed to the room. I even remembered to get a chocolate croissant for the trip home.

Well, I guess sleep is overrated. I needed to leave at 3 a.m. for the airport, so this means an all nighter. I’m too old for this. But I guess that is what the plane is for — sleep.

I was asleep before the plane even took off. When I woke up I was in the air for over a couple of hours. We finally landed in Washington D.C. at 11:30 a.m. Well, that meant I only had a little over an hour to get though customs and transfer my bags, get through security and get to the next connection before 12:30 p.m. Well I only had 20 minutes left once I got through security and ran and ran. I made it, but realized I’m out of shape. I couldn’t believe how tired I was and all I wanted was a gallon of water.

As I sat down on the plane the steward brought me a big bottle of water. It took less than an hour to get to Philadelphia Airport. Went to baggage claim to get the luggage only to find out that they never made it to the plane in D.C. I had to claim them and at 11:30 p.m., I finally got them.

Before Kurt (son) and I got home from the airport, we had to make a stop to get hoagies. I hung out for awhile with Gary (husband) and Kurt and then finally crashed at 5 p.m. I slept all night long and woke up when Gary was going to work. I couldn’t believe I slept that long.

Home Sweet Home never felt so good.

I would like to invite you all to stop by at 127 Barren Rd. Media, to join in the archery craze.

Cindy Bevilacqua

Olympic Team Leader 2012-Archery