by Neena Strichart
My fondest childhood memories are not of the money spent on me by parents, but of the time they shared with me teaching me things.
Mom and I did a little gardening and making games out of doing household chores. I still think of Mom when I vacuum the carpet and remember her saying to do it in an overlapping pattern, “Pretend you are mowing the lawn. That way you will never miss a spot!” I bet green carpeting would have made that task even more entertaining.
Dad and I would play gin rummy and “catch” wearing our tattered baseball gloves, and he tried to teach me to putt with an old golf club someone gave him. Our favorite pasttime was our very own private sing-a-longs featuring tunes/lyrics by Stephen Foster. Those times meant more to me then and now than any visits to Disneyland or expensive shopping trips could have.
Other than our little bit of baseball antics or attempts at basketball and golf, my dad and I had very little sports interactions. He just wasn’t big into sports stuff. Oh, once in a while he’d watch the final game of a World Series or an occasional wrestling match or golf game on television, but that was about it.
Thinking back, I don’t remember any of my friends or their families being much into big sporting events. Nowadays, it seems that family affairs often revolve around televised games, and many families make sure to attend local baseball, basketball or hockey games.
I have a gal pal named Vanessa who has been filling me in on the fun she and her hubby are having introducing their little girl Tessa to the world of live sports. In a recent email, Vanessa sent me some darling pictures of Tessa at her first baseball game. All I could think as I viewed them was how lucky they all are to be building such fabulous family memories.
Upon further discussion, Tessa’s mom gave me some direct quotes from 3-year-old Tessa, spoken during her first live sporting event— an Angels game: “I can see the whole world from here” (said when seeing the field from her seat); “Albert Pujols is amazing” (referring to his baseball skills! I Googled him, and I have to say I agree. Wow,he sure is handsome!); and finally, “this is the longest game ever” (no doubt stated around the 7th inning).
Vanessa tells me that she and hubby Josh have been die-hard Angel fans for years and claim now Tessa is one too.
I agree to part of that statement— Tessa is a little angel, a piece of Heaven on Earth.
