Congratulations, Mikhail Shaidorov

Every 4 years I’m reminded that I’m married to a person from the former Soviet Union when the Winter Olympics becomes the center of attention in our home. This year is no different. The 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic games are underway.

Last night my husband sat down at the dinner table and announced that he had some important news. We might be very surprised. When I paused, soup spoon in midair, mouth agape, he added “everyone is going to be okay”. Then he didn’t say anything else — which is also a very Soviet thing to do.

After dinner he turned on the replay of the figure skating mens’ free skate.

U.S. skater, Ilia Malinin, has been the shining favorite of men’s figure skating for the U.S team. He does things on the ice that no one else can do. News articles announced: He can’t be beat.

Last night, we watched Canadian Stephen Gogolev. Amazing, perfect. Then, Kazakh Mikhail Shaidorov stunned with a dazzling performance. After Mikhail’s skate I said, he could get a medal for that. It was wonderful.

I’m not an athlete and can’t imagine what it takes. I don’t know how it feels to have a perfect skate, knowing that Yuma Kagiyama, Shun Sato and the American Ilia Malinin are waiting to push you down the leaderboard. But I do know about showing up.

In 2010, I attended the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. I drove my mother-in-law and my 2-year old from Vancouver to watch men’s speed skating. The arena was far from the other venues and difficult to find. Apparently others had the same issue because a skater for one of those European countries bordering the Northern Sea wasn’t in the arena when it came time for the race. The second seed from his country was there but didn’t have his gear. The third seed was an hour away in Vancouver. The country’s fourth ranked skater was there with his gear in hand and would race for his country.

It’s been over 15 years and I still remember that moment. I looked at my two-year old and thought, I’m going to let her know about the power of showing up. This athlete wasn’t supposed to race today. He gets this chance because he showed up with his gear and a can-do attitude.

A long time ago, at another dinner table, my grandfather would lean in and tell my sister and me that success in life is about showing up. You don’t have to be smarter than everybody else, there are a lot of people that are smarter than you. Don’t worry about that. There are also a lot of people not as smart as you, that doesn’t matter. Showing up is the most important thing. Sometimes showing up is the hardest thing.

So last night, we watched as the favored Japanese skaters, who were expected to overtake Mikhail, struggled on the ice. Then we watched 21 year old, Ilia Malinin, take the ice. We expected to see him take the top spot from Mikhail. Then he fell. Twice. As a parent, it was wrenching.

I watched as the realization dawned on 21 year old, Mikhail Shaidorov. Because of his gorgeous and technically perfect skate, he would win Kazakhstan’s first gold in figure skating.

In my work, I see couples, parents and grandparents show up for their families. They do the work of putting together their estate plans for something that they don’t think is going to happen for a long, long time. Estate planning isn’t fun. It asks you to think about the worst case scenario. Sometimes showing up is the hardest thing to do.

Let’s talk about what it looks like to show up for the people you love. Call 650-636-7247 to schedule an introduction call with Christina.