Sunday Scribblings #82 – Sports

Sports do not bring up good memories for me.

As a child, I was enrolled in swimming lessons.

I failed. As in didn’t pass. My twin sister passed, but was held back so we could stay in the same level. She won’t let me forget that to this day and I hold that to this day.

I never could get the breathing thing down right and so would plug my nose with one hand and do the front crawl with the other. That made swimming in a straight line impossible. I’d start out at the right corner of the pool and end up at the left corner. For many years I couldn’t even understand why this was funny to my sister.

I have memories of grade school gym. I was picked last for the baseball team during gym time. Why was I “dead wood?”. I didn’t have the skill, speed, hand-eye coordination. No one told me that was ok.

I was never invited to the Track ‘n Field day at Birchmount Collegiate. I never even got to sit in the stands. Even Tina Mastromartino got to go. But I didn’t. Instead I stayed back at the school, doing my academic-track work.

The process of trying out for track ‘n field (which, I might add, was MANDAtOTRY) was humiliating.

Long jump. I fell flat on my face. And the freaking teacher there was so belittling:

“Obviously this isn’t for you!”

But I did hold Miss LeBreton’s hand when we were skating. I could skate. Other kids couldn’t. And I got to hold her hand. And I didn’t lose my balance. I was confident.

But then again, she taught us folk songs. And was different.

So she was a little ahead of her time ~ in 1980 she GOT what was important.

LOVE, ACCEPTANCE, BEING.

I guess she taught me a lot.

Thank you.