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Racquetball Saved my
Life
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This unpublished
"extra" is available exclusively online. All ideas expressed
via RACQUETBALL Online [www.racqmag.com] are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official
position of the USRA. |
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I am a full-time, working mother of six children -- six boys, in fact -- with a wonderful husband. My children are the most loving and caring children you could ever ask for. They are my life. As a family we have very little time together and when we do, we do nothing else but racquetball. In fact we bought a brand new Chevy Venture 8-seater van that we call our raqc-mobile. We travel all around the east coast playing in every single tournament that we can. Our Fridays consist of loading up the raqc-mobile and traveling to any tournament we can find. We love it more than you will ever know. Racquetball in the year 2001 has saved my life ... please read on. My husband and I took up racquetball in 1998. A year later we played every single tournament on the east coast that we could get too and I won all but one that I played in and became the No.1 in NC and No.1 in the national USRA rankings in the C division. It was so exciting. My son was also ranked in the juniors division. I then went to the U.S. Open and won the Women's C age division. At 40 years of age, this was the most exciting day of my life. But in the finals I tore my rotator cuff and later had to have surgery. I was so upset -- since racquetball was my life outside of a full time job, a husband, six cats and six boys. I was devastated. In the beginning of the year 2000 -- and I had no idea this was just the start of it -- my life would be turned around forever. After my surgery I was told not to play racquetball for six months. It was a very long recovery and very depressing. In order to cheer myself I went to the beach with my family. On the second day at the beach my children and I went skim boarding. This was a mistake. Just five minutes into it I ended up in the hospital with a broken ankle and was put in a cast for eight weeks. My racquetball seemed to be getting further out of my reach. I was even more depressed and started gaining weight fast and furious. Well, time went by and in the middle of June I was able to start practicing again. I was so excited until one rainy night when my life changed. I could not wait to finish work that evening as I wanted to rush home, get the boys and get off to the gym to play for a couple of hours. When 5:00 pm rolled around, I heard news of an car accident right by my house. The rain was pouring down and it had started to thunder. I packed up and drove home. When I got to the door my neighbor came running over to tell me that the accident that I had driven by happened to involve my very own son. She said he was a passenger in the car and had been rushed to the hospital. I drove straight to the emergency room thinking that he had broken a leg or something, only to be met by a preacher who informed us that my 18-year-old son had been cut out of the car, was in a coma and maybe only had hours to live. I cannot explain how I lived through these few hours. My husband and my other children sat by his side and prayed he would live. It actually took ten days for my son to die. On June 21, 2000 he was pronounced brain dead and passed away. As a parent you never expect to bury your own child but I had too. I watched and heard my children cry themselves to sleep every night but I tried to stay strong for them. I did, and got them help and sent them all back to school and college. It is the hardest thing being a mother and not being able to help your children. I felt so helpless. Obviously when I felt they were strong enough, my body must have said it had had enough, and in October I ended up in the hospital with a nervous breakdown. Three weeks before a dreaded Christmas I was home with my family trying to get through each day of our lives without the presence of my loving and caring son Damian. All my children are so very close and his loss had devastated everyone. After we all saw in the year 2001 with very little excitement, my doctor told us all to dust off the racq-mobile and start to play racquetball again. I just did not know how to do it. One day, after sitting quietly, it seemed as if Damian had said to me "Mom, as a family, go back to racquetball for me." He knew I loved it so much and I know he would have been disappointed if I had given it up. This gave me the determination I needed to get up, go to the gym and get back into tournaments. I always said every tournament I won, if any, would be for him. I played in my first tournament, which was the North Carolina State Championships, and finished first in both the C division and first in the women's all age. I then played in Fayetteville and won B's and played in Greenville and won B's and played in Asheville and won B's. I have not lost a tournament yet. I cannot expect to win every one, but I do need you to know that if it was not for racquetball I would never be where I am today. To finish on a very special note, I have to tell you my son was on his way to tell me he was having a baby. Obviously it is a tragedy that Damian never got to see his baby born but he sure did leave me with a very special gift. A granddaughter! A granddaughter, who this Christmas will receive her very first racquet. That's "racquet" not "rattle." Ha! Ha! I hope my life experience will help put everyone's own life back into perspective for a little while. Treasure your family while you have them and if it means playing racquetball as a family, or doing anything else as a family, please do it. You will treasure those memories for the rest of your life -- and leave them behind for the rest of your loved ones. |
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