[ There Are So Many Times That I Miss When I Was Physically
     Able To Compete ]
[ I Miss Going To The Gym On Sunday & Lifting Hard ]
[ Than Going On Monday To Repeat ]

[ The Feeling I Get When My Muscles Contract ]
[ The Feeling I Get When My Chest & The Bar Make Contact ]

[ Gripping The Bar Tight With Both Hands ]
[ Contracting My Body Like A Tight Rubberband ]

[ Even In Warm-Ups I Had Razor Sharp Focus ]
[ Bench Pressing Heavy Weights Did Not Use The Magical
     Words Of ( HOCUS-POCUS ) ]

[ I Met The Powerlifting Team In The Summer Of 1994 ]
[ The Tequnique They Were Using Made Me Want To Watch
     Alot More ]

[ I Took A Chance To Ask One Of The Team Members ]
[ I Told Him ( I MET YOU A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO IN THE
     GYM ) ]
[ & I Was Hoping That He Remembered ]

[ It Was A Big Chance ]
[ Because He Looked Like He Didn’t Remember Me @ First
    Glance ]

[ I Could See The Memory Come Back In ]
[ Then He Said ( HEY IT’s GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN ) ]

[ We Chatted & I Asked Him About Competing ]
[ I Felt Like This Was A Chance Meeting ]

[ He Then Went On To Say ]
[ To Come Meet The Team The Next Saturday ]

[ The Next Week In The Gym It Was Like The Start Of A Long
     Time Wanted Dream ]
[ I Waited On The Side ]
[ Until He Introduced Me To The Rest Of His Team ]

[ They Were Large Muscular, Strong Looking Men ]
[ & Women ]

[ They Asked Me ( WHAT DO YOU WEIGH? ) ]
[ Everybody Went Quiet To Hear What I Would Say ]

[ I Said ( ABOUT 160 POUNDS, MAYBE ) ]
[ Then This Very Large Man, Who Was The Coach ]
[ Said ( HI MY NAME IS TERRY )

[ He Told Me That I Could Fit Into Their 165lb Slot ]
[ Then He Said ( LAY DOWN ON THE BENCH & LET’s SEE
     WHAT YOU’ve GOT ) ]
[ Compared To Where I Ended Up In My Lifting Career ]
[ It Was Not Alot ]

[ My Overall Goal Was To Benchpress Three Times My
     Bodyweight ]
[ Well That Dream Will Forever Have To Wait ]

[ My First Competition Was In The Summer Of 1995 ]
[ In 1998 I Showed That I Had Finally Arrived ]

[ I Set My First World Record @ The World’s In 1998 ]
[ That Was The Competition Where I Became A World
     Champion Teammate ]

[ It Felt So Good To Get That First, First Place Trophy ]
[ @ The World’s ]
[ Nobody Can Take That Away From Me ]
[ I Went To A Total Of 3 World Championships ]
[ So By The End Of My Career, I Had A Total Of Three ]

[ My Benchpressing Goal Was 495 ]
[ & That Was No Lie ]
[ I Only Got To 475 ]
[ So I Was 20lbs Shy ]

[ I Started In ’94 As A Novice & The Team Needed To Show
     Me ]
[ Everything About How To Lift ]
[ @ The End I Was A World Champion, Times Three ]
[ & Found That My Ability Was A Gift ]

[ Through Alot Of Hard Work & Support ]
[ Oh How I Miss Competing In That Sport ]

~ Ka hopena ~

[  Mahalo iā ‘oe  ]
[  A hui hou mākou  ]
[  Aloha  ] ‎ 
  ‎
[  Na  ]
[  Lopaka DeVoe ]