Pearltruths

Not Much Time for Friends

Moving forward with our lives, my dad introduced us to the game of tennis among other sports. But, I had instrumental talent so I played the piano for a while. Until I didn’t. Tennis, on the other hand was a calm and productive way to keep busy and alternative to vent frustrations and anger, for my brothers and me.  For me, being the only girl, at first, I wanted ice skating, but practicing for a short time, I discontinued since I didn’t feel confident enough swirling and doing flips on the ice.  Then there was swimming.  We took swimming lessons and used to go to Lake Don Pedro, wherever that was.  We went wading and just had fun as a family.  I was too afraid to dive in the water headfirst, so I quit that. Somewhere amid all this, Dad taught me the basics of playing piano.  I don’t know how, but he learned the instrument on his own first and then he taught me pretty well that I really was great at playing classical music.  Beethoven, Mozart, etc.  At home he used to sit in a chair and listen to me play and sometimes he’d fall asleep.  When we went to the mall, he had me play in the little piano stores randomly.  I started playing at the elementary school contest and won. While also incorporating tennis into the mix!  I’m thinking now, how did he manage all of this? Yes, almost all of us siblings, with the exception of my oldest brother who wasn’t interested. We’ll call him Lito.  He totally did not participate in playing tennis with us and was always involved with his friends.   That’s fine, it made sense.  He was the oldest and had a different agenda.  Besides, he was Mom’s first born and always on her side for anything, except living with her.  Haha! That’s ironic!  Dad showed us how to practice against the walls of Chabot College, in Hayward Ca.  That was our first lesson.  He knew the sport himself and he literally taught us how to play.  That’s impressive, because it worked for a while!!  We would practice at the college maybe every weekend.  I don’t remember, but we practiced a lot because we got pretty good at the game.  Seriously!  I remember us also going to the tennis courts at Mission Blvd in Hayward.  Carlos B?  Anyhow, I think we got so good that Dad signed us up and drove us to tennis tournaments.  We really participated in the games against other players.  So we must’ve been pretty great!!   Frankly, I loved the game!  I was tiny, but loved it.  Nonetheless, we consistently played at Chabot College, up to the point that one of my classmates caught me playing and complimented me the next day when I went to class.  He told me that I was good.  I thought that was sweet of him to say.  I was lost and didn’t know who I was at 12-13 years old and didn’t know how to respond to compliments and appreciate it. I was very young.  I’m not sure how long our tennis hobby went on as a family.  Until, one day, I felt uneasy and tired with a reality check about the game. I knew the sport required a lot of stamina, great height, quickness and strength.  Although I loved the game I knew I wasn’t cut out for reaching new heights. Not that I had to be famous or anything. Afterwards, we were promoted into High School and I have to admit, through word of mouth it went through the grapevine that a tennis coach wanted to recruit me to join Mt. Eden High School Team.   Without proper parental guidance I didn’t know any better as far as having fun with the school team, scholarships, and even city games provided by the high school.  Us kids weren’t aware at the time of the benefits in joining the high school team.   As a result, I declined the offer to join the tennis team.  Looking back now, it was sad and a reality check, but at the same time obviously wasn’t meant to be, or I would’ve been in the pros or simply would have joined the team.   However, I do wish now that I know better, to have joined for the scholarship and just enjoy the game would’ve been beneficial.  Eeh, that’s life. We live and we learn the hard lessons 😀