After a day of "never forgetting" I am left to my own thoughts. I remember huddling around a radio at work to listen to the news broadcasts. It was surreal. I retreated to my office and the horrific pictures on the internet. My boss, a British man of about 65 at the time was a little put out at our reaction. When I asked him why he was not more concerned, he explained that as a child in London he had endured endless German bombings during World War II. His words concerning the terrorist attack were, "We'll get over it and move on. I've been through this before." Who ever said the British aren't tough?
Beyond that, what sticks out most in my mind is that my daughter had a volleyball game that day. As a junior, she had made the varsity as the Setter for the team. I was very excited and proud of her - and despite the day's tragic activity, they played the game that night. I can't recall if the girls won or lost the game. I think most of the parents attending were wondering more about terrorists than the game. I don't recall talking much about the attacks afterward, trying to stay focused on our daughter and son -and keep things as normal as possible.
My daughter is on the left
In high school I played a little hockey. My parents became big fans of our escapades. We started out as a club team in my junior year and the school sponsored a varsity team when I was a senior. We played 12 games that year and wound up 10-1-1. We were by no means a great team, but we were pretty good and had a great deal of fun. Nothing like 4:30 AM bus rides to practice. In addition to our team, my folks became big fans of hockey in general - with a particular love of the NY Rangers (This was in North Jersey.) As the years went by and I was no longer skating, my parents remained fans of the game. As a surly stay-at-home college student, I resisted their efforts to draw me into their new found fanaticism.
Eventually I graduated, got married, and had a child of my own - a daughter born in 1985. She turned out to be a pretty good volleyball player - not great, but pretty good. And her teams were pretty good too. She played on the school team in the fall and did some club volleyball in the off season. We drove countless miles to watch her play during those years. She graduated in 2003 and took off for college - never to play competitively again.
Just last weekend, as I took a few minutes to relax with the TV remote, I was passing through the ESPN stations and found a college volleyball game between Florida State and Auburn. I stopped and watched the rest of the game - could barely look away. That's happened countless times since my daughter got me hooked on volleyball. I can't explain it - I've got no continuing interest in the sport. But I am certain that it is directly related to my "little girl" playing volleyball.
And the older I get - the more I am able to understand my parent's fascination with hockey. It brought them more joy than just the game that happened to be on TV at the time. It also took them back to their own memories of watching their child play the game.
Anyway, every September 11th I think of volleyball.
Wow. Same thing, Jack, same thing. But it's golf.
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