We're leaking big time. Syria is about to explode. The Tuolumne fire is threatening our drinking water. It's the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. Can we put aside our differences, come together as a nation and the world and solve what seems to be the insurmountable?
I see battling leukemia as a parallel. I've sprung a leak; a big one in relative terms. One goes through life and all of one's life systems are heathy. One is just humming along and one doesn't have a care in the world. But then something goes terribly wrong and life that was is no longer.
But I'm one of the lucky ones. I have the dedication of a top drawer staff, friends and family making sure that the leak that I sprung will be plugged up.
I hope that the world can see to it to start plugging it's leaks as well as I am trying to plug mine.
An update....
I've finished my second round of chemo without incident during which time I was under the care of a nurse in my room monitoring my vital signs every fifteen minutes for 4 straight hours. No easy task. So now it's a waiting game......waiting for my body to replenish the white blood cells that have been zeroed out from the chemo. I'll know within two weeks whether my blood cell courts are back to normal without the presence of the bastard cancer cells.
Which brings me back to my previous posts. Dick Crawford and Jack Barnaby served as mentors in my development of me becoming a top-notch squash player ,and it was always my intention to continue their legacy during my tenure as the Pro at the University Club.
In 1985, the University Club wanted to expand their squash program by hiring a full time Teaching Squash Professional. Club Member, Murray Smith, was one of the key movers of squash back then and he suggested that I would be a good candidate for the job. I was looking for a change from my job as a Project Head Start Teacher.
I interviewed and got the job. I was the first teaching professional hired at the University Club!
In the beginning it was everything that I hoped for. I was a Teaching Pro at an established and mature squash club, players were serious about improving upon their game, and I was on the court at least four hours a day giving individual lessons. I was teaching players how to play the game of squash. We had a doubles court that was hardly used: so I rectified that by organizing leagues and tournaments to the point when we needed to build a second doubles court to accommodate the demand.
But then our Club hit a financial wall, and we lost a lot of members because they were tired of plugging up the financial leaks and abandoned the club for greener pastures. Only the Club stalwarts who really believed in the Club stayed and kept the faith. (Not coincidentally, these are the same members who are paying me lovely visits to keep my spirits up. I have a lot of wingmen who have my back)
So the club was on life support and the nature of the membership was changing in an attempt to draw new members. No longer was the Club filled with as many established squash players. Most of the new members gave squash a try but gave it up because there would be not enough time to devote themselves to the game that takes quite a bit of time to become proficient at.
I found myself giving fewer lessons to the point that my role as a teacher diminished to one of a squash organizer and event planner; something that I am still happy to do but I am a teacher first and foremost and that was no longer my primary role. Members were turning to the internet and not buying equipment from me, a time-honored tradition between members and their pros, and began buying cheaper squash goods online to save a few bucks, thereby cutting off a significant source of revenue that as the Club Pro, I had always come to expect.
For the next few years, as the Club was getting it's financial house in order, we've had a slight increase in membership particularly in Squash. My lessons were increasing. We had a mature and thriving doubles program that required my full attention. Things were looking up.
About a year ago and quite unexpectedly a wonderful surprise entered my life. I got a call from a family looking for a squash coach for their 10 year old daughter. Beforehand, they enrolled her in various squash camps and clinics in the Bay Area in search for the right fit for her. The family eventually got a hold of me, we met, and we decided to form a teacher-student relationship. I was to teach her how to play the game of squash. It was strictly a one-on-one teacher to student relationship. I told the family that I would not travel with them to tournaments and give on the spot coaching. Our time spent together would be in the court - my classroom where we would go over match play skills. Squash is an individual sport which ceases to be an individual sport when parents and coaches are hovering around tournaments watching and micromanaging their child's every move. Kids are very capable of problem solving on their own if we get out of the way to allow them to do so.
So we began. At first, we would have a few lessons a week, I would break down the game into small bits and pieces and then we would reassemble them back together again. Above all we would play. I was back in the role of a TEACHER again and I was sharing my 40 years of squash experience with this young girl.
Katherine Sapinski is remarkable. She's a budding athlete who has really taken to squash. Within a matter of months, she has won a few tournaments in her age group defeating the opponents she lost to in her initial forays into the world of junior tournament squash.
And so I am taking this opportunity to express my eternal gratitude to Katherine and her family that we found each other when we did. She allowed me to rediscover a bit of myself that I thought was lost but was only missing and has since rekindled my spirit. Our relationship has re-enabled my personal task to follow the example that my squash coach at Cal, Dick Crawford, and Harvard's venerated coach, Jack Barnaby, had set for me - to continue to seek out and teach students like Katherine in the future.
The following is from a handwritten card by Katherine that I received when their family visited me last. I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as it filled me with gratitude.
******
Dear John,
So today in my tournament I was playing a girl named Portia, and she was the top seed. So I won the first game 11-9, then the second game 11-6. The next game I lost the first 4 points, and I kinda panicked. She kept getting points after I returned the serve into the middle, so eventually she won 11-6. Even after I took a break and got some water, I was still a little flustered. So when the game started I was hitting shots that I could've hit much better.
So Portia kept hitting into the back corners until eventually I was just staying in the back waiting for the ball coming to me, until Portia figured out I was stuck in the back. She started to hit shots in the front that I couldn't get which led her in winning the game 11-8.
When we were taking our 90 second break, I gave myself a pep talk that went a little something like this. "That was the old Katherine that I showed them back there. So bring out the new Katherine and show them what I really got!"
Once I got back on the court, I had a sparkle in my eye that I didn't have before.
So when the 5th game started, I was hitting much better shots that were gaining me points and went to the T after every shot, which led me into a victory of winning the 5th game 11-2.
After I thanked the refs and shook Portia's hand I said to myself, "Thanks, John"
Your Friend,
Katherine
******
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