In the picture on the sweatshirt they gave me, they are so small. My basketball team. They are not small because they are in grade school. They are small.
And there, standing next to me in a triple-threat pose is one of smallest girls, one with red hair and an infectious grin: Emily Starkloff. She was one of a trio of players on my eight-person roster who either hadn't passed the 5-foot mark or just barely crossed it.
We had a perfect record that year, as we would all say with a smile: we didn't win one. But as I told each and every one of the girls at our end of the year party at the Dove, they should find a sport to play. Maybe not basketball -- more chuckles -- but they should continue to find a team to belong to because they were all such good teammates. They were there for each other and the only time anyone was benched was for saying, "We sucked."
Emily was never benched. She never gave up. She guarded her person tenaciously and got her share of steals. She came to one game right after she got her ears pierced and the ref that day was firm about the no-jewelry rule. We put BandAids over her brand new earrings, and she played. She had fun playing.
The kids split up, as parochial students do, heading off to different high schools. And my daughter would tell me she had seen Emily, but I hadn't seen her in, maybe, three years. Now my daughter calls and says Emily is dead, killed by a hit-and-run driver after she got off MetroLink. It was early in the morning. So far, police say they've found no witnesses.
Last month, the mother of one of my players died of cancer, and that was too soon.
But Emily was 19, far far too young. To Max and Colleen, her parents, I can only offer prayers and a fond memory of a youngster I was proud to coach.
What's the best birthday present? In theory, it's always being with the family. In practice, tiffs and tiredness and too much pressure have, sometimes, led to tension instead of terrific times. But the stars aligned this year.
The boy lives in Miami. The girl is in college in upstate New York. She and I are tired of the cold -- really tired. When her spring break came later than all of her friends' and coincided with my birthday, we decided to get together.
The clouds are coming in from the West just now, but the morning and early afternoon were delightful: Blue sky, very soft breezes and warmth, lovely, lovely warmth. What's even better, all of us seem to be more comfortable than I remember recently. Are we all adults? I don't want to analyze, just enjoy. Even the standard family digs: Yes, I still talk to myself -- especially when the computer won't let me update a link. But neither of them ventured to remark on my need for exercise, which was abundantly clear at the pool. We all seem to have learned the line between teasing and insulting. What a great birthday.
If you've found this blog, you've found our brand new publication, The St. Louis Platform. The last part of my 34 years in the newspaper business found me leading the way into a new technology. I helped teach reporters and editors how to use the new operating system. This ability to teach how to use something has translated into the idea that I understand technology. And it means that I'm supposed to help writers learn to post on our new site. Ha!
As I tried to tell most classes, I could explain how they would work with the system, but I had very little idea of how the system worked or why it did things a certain way. Now I find myself in a new technology and trying to learn, again, how to work the system. And again, I'm frustrated with the baby steps I'm having to take at the beginning. What I have to remember, however, is that each time I try to "walk" it will get a little easier. And this time, I want to learn more about how the system works so using it makes more sense.
Two things brought about this reflection: I swear I had posted a blog that said my niece did a great job with Easter dinner -- and it wasn't her fault that her mother and grandmother were sick the next day :). But those semi-humorous words disappeared into the either. Then, I tried to create a map yesterday. One point in one hour does not efficiency make.
Donna Korando has lived in St. Louis for 34 years, but a part of her will always be the farm kid who followed the creek, rode a cow and had too many kittens, none of which were allowed inside the house. This blog will look at the country and city sides that work together and sometimes conflict.
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Donna Korando has lived in St. Louis for 34 years, but a part of her will always be the farm kid who followed the creek, rode a cow and had too many kittens, none of which were allowed inside the house. This blog will look at the country and city sides that work together and sometimes conflict.
