Posted: Dec. 28, 2009 |(0) Comments

Menomonee Falls — The goal for Resolve stories was to find some average Joes and Janes who may have had a difficult year, but had something for which they were thankful.

The Stelpflugs are anything but average.

You might think Rita is the focus of this story.

She adopted three baby girls from Peru on her own. As it turns out, two of them have disabilities, although Rita didn't know that at the time of adoption.

But that story is more than 20 years old.

"This isn't about me," Rita said.

The focus here is on Becca - the youngest of the three girls. Rebecca, 19, is one of 64 state athletes on Team Wisconsin competing in the Special Olympics National Games being held in July in Lincoln, Neb.

"That's quite a feat," Rita said. "I thought that was quite a phenomenal thing."

Becca has short-term memory problems and cerebral palsy, or a weakness of the right side of her body.

"This is actually one of the biggest achievements in my life," she said.

Concerns from the start

The family has lived in the village about 20 years, since Rita adopted Becca when she was 2 months old in Piura, Peru.

When Becca was 7 months old, her day care provider alerted Rita to some concerns. It was then Rita became aware that Becca needed some help. Rita's middle child, Ashley, 21, also has some disabilities. Rita's oldest child, Jennifer, 25, does not have any disabilities.

Rita said Becca, who is a senior in the special education program at Menomonee Falls High School, has empathy and never says anything bad about anyone.

However, they struggle with Becca's disabilities.

"Teaching her things is difficult," Rita said. "You have to repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat until she gets it. She is really hard to teach at school."

Becca writes herself a lot of notes to help her remember things.

"I don't always remember what to do sometimes," Becca said. "I try my best anyway."

Becca started swimming when she was 8, and entered Special Olympics.

She came in eighth out of eight in her first race, Rita said, but things improved from there.

"Some of the strokes are difficult for her," because of her cerebral palsy, Rita said. In a past race, she was disqualified because her breast stroke kick was wrong, Rita said.

She is good at freestyle and backstroke, and is getting closer on the breast stroke, with butterfly being the hardest stroke for her to master.

Training dedication

To make the state Special Olympics team, Becca took an aquatics test, which she passed. She is one of four women in the state participating in the aquatics portion of the national competition.

"I was in shock actually," Becca said about hearing the news. "I couldn't breathe."

She then went to a training camp in Oshkosh in October. While there, she came up with the name Wisconsin Wave, which her peers selected.

Through March, she will train once a month with her team at locations around the state. Her coach gives her some one-on-one time at practices. Starting in April, practices increase.

Daily, she practices alone doing yoga, Pilates, cardio workouts and swimming. In January, she will begin documenting her workouts in a journal. She gets e-mails and letters from her coach offering support.

"She is doing it by herself," Rita said. "What's cool about it is her dedication."

She doesn't know yet what events she'll be competing in.

"She has to get ready for anything," Rita said. "We are training on all these different events."

Becca said her favorite part about her training is "doing laps at my own pace." Her least favorite part - warm-ups.

'Trying my best'

In July, Becca will be gone 10 days.

"You have to be somewhat independent," Rita said about participating in the national competition.

Becca is looking forward to "just having fun and trying my best."

She will have the support of her family and extended family, who will travel separately as Becca will be with her team.

However, the trip comes at a price. It costs $1,000 for each athlete, not counting the cost for her family to accompany her.

"It was a dismal year in many respects, but to achieve something like this … is amazing," Rita said.

Becca is working on some fundraisers. She is selling Special Olympics T-shirts with the Team Wisconsin logo. She also is trying to get a team together and collect pledges for the Polar Plunge either in Milwaukee or Muskego.

"I'm not looking forward to it," Becca joked about her upcoming icy dip.

A star is born

 

After hearing she would be the focus of this story, Becca joked that the other kids at school, "might want my autograph."

In her submission to the newspaper, Rita stated Becca's achievement "is a major accomplishment" and it has been "a super year" for her. And, in many ways, it has been a super year for Rita and the rest of the family, too.

Maybe the focus of this story really is about Rita and a mother's love that began nearly 20 years ago.

You be the judge.

To Help

WHAT: buy a Special Olympics Team Wisconsin T-Shirt, join her Polar Plunge team or pledge a dollar amount

CONTACT: Becca Stelpflug, (262) 251-2567

At a glance

Here are some fun facts about Becca:

During the day: office helper at school

Favorite subject: lifetime fitness

Favorite activities: sports, art and music

Favorite musicians: David Archuleta, Chris Allen and Adam Lambert