FROM GOOD OLE UNCLE VIC

March 2005

   Hello everyone, how are you? If this be March, can spring be far behind?

   The answer to last month's quiz: What does Lent signify in the Christian faith? Lent signifies the 40 days and 40 nights that Jesus fasted in the wilderness, before he began his ministry.

   This month's quiz, again for a movie pass (members only): What is the origin of the Ides of March? For a free movie pass, e-mail your answer to Andrea Wanner at andrea.wanner@brickbodies.com.

   There is a hole in my heart as I write this month’s column. My little girl has up and moved to Australia. That’s right, Australia. Oh, sure, we knew it was coming. She has been trying to go overseas to play basketball ever since she graduated from Maryland this spring. Europe didn’t work out for her but she got the chance to go to Australia and work for my buddy Tony deLeede, in his Fitness First health club chain and play for a semi-pro women’s basketball team in Sydney. No money really to be had but a great experience working for Tony, living in Australia and playing international basketball.

   We knew it was coming but we still weren’t ready for it. There is a big difference between dropping your kid off at the University of Maryland, College Park, one hour from your front door and putting her on an airplane to go half way around the world. If she went any farther she would be coming back! (Actually, her boyfriend, Rob, took her to the airport. I hate messy good-byes). Yea, you can call her and e-mail her but there will be no surprise visits, no buzzing down I-95 to see her play, no weekend practice sessions and no summer pick-up games with her in the back yard.

   Couple Vick moving to Australia with Jon being at a prep school in Bradenton, Florida, getting ready to play college basketball next year and we really are the proverbial empty nesters.

Where did the time go? What happened to that little girl in the patented leather shoes and pink dress that refused to change even when she was playing outside with the boys? Was it that long ago that we would get up at 5:30 every morning to practice tennis for two hours at the Hilton before school? Aren’t there any more basketball games for me to go to and watch her play in at McDonogh or the University of Maryland? What happened to that little girl?

   She grew up. That’s what happened. And in so doing, she has made me keenly aware of my mortality.

   Can I be this old? Are my kids really all but grown up? Must I move on to another phase of my life? Why? I loved that phase so terribly much. I loved being needed. I loved basking in their successes. They made me feel so proud. And young. And alive. Why must things change? Can’t they stay the same way forever? I don’t feel any different than I did twenty years ago. Maybe a little slower on defense (but I shoot better!). Do I really have two kids in their 20’s? (Jon will be 20 this year).

   We all know the answer. Things never stay the same. Nor should they. It is time for Vick to move on and discover her greatness. And it is time for Lynne and I to let her go. She is entering a new phase of her life. Lynne and I are entering a new phase of ours. We may not see her as much anymore, but she will always be our baby girl.

   We keep a small light on in Vicki’s bedroom 24 hours a day. It is symbolic of how she would light up our lives with her cheerful personality. Boy, do we miss her. But we know it is the natural progression of life. Sure, we have great memories, but there are plenty of memories still to come. Just different ones, that’s all, just different ones. That’s the key, isn’t it? New memories. Everyone goes through different phases of life, some happy like going from a teenager to your roaring 20’s or from being single to being married. Some sad like when your kids leave home or going from being single to being married! The secret is to constantly create new memories. Each ending is a new beginning.

Let’s see. Now that Vicki and Jon are gone, what do Lynne and I have planned? Two new clubs in 2005, ACC men’s basketball tournament in March, Florida, San Francisco, Final Four in April, Portugal in May, Australia in June.......

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY