A life of twists, turns and flips
CORVALLIS -- This story starts with a little girl, with long wavy brown hair and a big smile, who can't decide what she wants to wear.
"Which one?" the little girl asks her grandma, holding up two dresses.
"That one," her grandma says, pointing. That dress was always one of her favorites, with the big blue flowers and the full skirt that was so much fun to twirl around in.
The little girl nods her approval, flinging the other dress to the ground. That dress will stay here, in her other house, with Grandma.
At 6 years old, was drawn to her grandmother's home.
Gymnastics fans from Oregon State already know about Smith, the junior gymnast who will lead the Beavers to their third consecutive NCAA Championship appearance this week. They've watched her play air guitar on the floor, moonwalk across the balance beam and go so high on vault that sometimes little girls in the stands think maybe, just maybe, can really fly.
What they might not know about Tasha is her alternative upbringing, about the grandparents who raised her, about the mom who was there even when it seemed she wasn't, and about the gut-wrenching loss less than two years ago of the man Tasha came to know as a dad. This is the part of the story she usually leaves out.
to read the rest of this feature from The Oregonian.
