Sweet spot

I got a few goosebumps with memories of sitting on this bench with my dad playing 'sweatout' for the court to clear, of the hours that I happily spent here working to finally beat my dad, of my mom playing with flip flops on or switching hands while playing, of getting annoyed at dad for feeding me goofy shots (that actually helped my game), of the moments with my friends playing 'friendly' matches, of playing a match while boys played basketball through the fence (this was a good tool for concentration at times), of victories over some of those basketball boys in doubles matches with one of my girlfriends, of sweeping off the rain in the 5 or 6 spots where it settled so we could get back to playing (my dad will say I never swept!), of having our own hopper of balls for a more efficient practice, of walking the 3 house distance home for more fruit punch gatorade or a few ice pops in between games, of just what an amazing upbringing my parents provided me. This picture is full of moments, memories and thoughts of thankfulness.

I can only hope Luke will have similar memories and thoughts as he takes a detour to his 'hometown' on the way to an out of town meeting someday when he is 'all grown up'.

He may still be living with me, though, as he is currently fixated on 'never leaving mommy's house' and I am not going to argue :)