Good Morning!
As we continue with our friendship theme...
(You are welcome to scroll down to read Monday's post)
"I count myself in nothing else so happy as in a soul remembering my good friends."
Richard II
Shakespeare
The quote from Shakespeare was selected for our son by his 12th grade English teacher, Ms. Coombs, as his graduation from high school neared. The quote then became the touchstone for his graduation speech three years ago, where he paid tribute to his friends. It is now the touchstone for this post.
Twenty-seven years ago at a picnic organized by my husband-to-be, Nat, I met a group of his friends - M, B, MK, C, S, P, and J.
Over the years, our little group has grown... We've attended one another's weddings * Welcomed our babies * Comforted one another when there was a loss or divorce * Welcomed a new partner into our group * We've sat in hospital waiting rooms when one of our children had brain surgery * We've walked through illness and celebrated when a clean bill of health was received * Stood by one another's sides when there were struggles with infertility and rejoiced when adoptions were finalized * We've attended bridal showers of one another's now grown children and marveled at their beauty when watching them walk down the aisle * We've listened to one another as our children navigated the choppy waters of adolescence, delighting when a passion unique to them was discovered - music, golf, musical theater, cheerleading, water polo, ballet, reading, community service, which seemed to anchor our kids, providing the gifts of focus and balance * We still gather together for BBQs or birthdays or Christmas Eve dinner at Patty and John's - a yearly tradition.
On Sunday, Patty called regularly to keep us posted as something wonderful was unfolding. Our friends Marcelo and Lori's daughter, older sister of Sara - was about to win her first national golf championship at the age of seventeen.
That day, we relied on calls from Patty - "Our Emily is five strokes ahead." "Marcelo is her caddy and reports she's really calm and doing well." "Marcelo just e-mailed and Emily won!
And from our independent corners of Los Angeles, our group cheered.
The next morning, Marcelo forwarded an interview with Emily right after she'd won. It carries an essence of sweetness that captures the friendship and love between a daughter and father.
Below is a link to that wonderful article, which Marcelo has given me permission to place on the blog. (I apologize, but it seems you're unable to click on the link - however, if you copy and paste it into your internet connect - it comes up with ease.)
http://www.usga.org/ChampEventArticle.aspx?id=2147487578
Here's a small portion of the interview:
Q. You sit with your dad?
EMILY TUBERT: I sit next to him, and it's out of our control at that point. The ball is in her court to do as she pleased. Unfortunate for her she missed the putt, and with that I won the championship.
Q. What was your first thought?
EMILY TUBERT: Oh, my God. I cannot believe this. I mean this whole week I just wanted to take it one shot at a time. So this was just another match. Just another thing I had to do. It just happens to be the match to decide the championship.
It was a crazy feeling. Such a sigh of relief. Thanks to the caddies, and the officials, and volunteers and I went over to give my dad a hug.
Q. What did he say?
EMILY TUBERT: He couldn't say much. He started crying. He said I'm so proud of you, and you belong. So for me it's been tough just believing that I belong with this caliber of players, especially starting around 13. I've only got five years in.
I've come up through the rankings kind of quickly, but it's still been tough for me to truly believe that I belong with these girls. So he told me, Emily, you did it. You belong with these girls. So that was awesome.
***
I wish you all a wonderful day.
Thank you Marcelo for granting me permission to post this very special
interview and story.
Might you have a friendship story?
If so, please click the "comments" link below or e-mail it to:
Projectthanx@gmail.com
We'll post it on Project Thanx!
"I count myself in nothing else so happy as in a soul remembering my good friends."
Love, Robin
Robin,
Reading this was like a flashback! I was transported back through each moment, some tearfully. Such is the cement that glues our lives. Each event involved "doing". Friednships are about doing; nurture is active not passive. Thank you for making me stop and remember. 27 years? OMG. I'm not that old yet!
Love, Patty
Posted by: Patty Conklin Heath | 07/01/2010 at 09:32 AM