When Al & I were first married and I moved in to his house I decided to clean out one of the closets while he was at work. On one of the shelves was a collection of dusty trophies. They were several years old and obviously hadn't been displayed in a long time so I threw them away. (!) It was probably six months later that he noticed and was quite upset about it. You see in my mind, they were just old, dusty tokens but in his mind they represented something. He would joke over the years about me tossing them out but I wish I could have gone back in time and had a "do over."
When Marshall was a baby, Al convined me to join a co-ed volleyball league. I tried, I really did but I sucked. I was scared of the ball and the players were vicious with their spikes. One day while off court a ball came flying my direction like a streaming comet and smacked me on the side of the face. I never saw it coming and that was it for me. I told him I didn't want to play anymore. I think our team was secretly cheering about that decision.
Hunting became a family event in Tucson. We'd all camp out in the desert for the occasional quail hunt, Marshall and Al would go deer and elk hunting but it was the annual dove hunt that we all enjoyed. It was back when NW Tucson wasn't as inhabited and we could drive to any spot off Silverbell and hunt. Afternoon hunts were always the most fun. After the birds made their way to their evening roost, we'd all hang out on the edge of the riverbed - the adults drinking beer and shooting the breeze and the kids running around, playing in the mud of the Santa Cruz or as we called it "the poo and pee river."
Al always played golf and was really good. During his Post Office days he joined the Tucson Postal Golf Group and served on their board in various positions including president. He started Marshall off with a set of plastic baby golf clubs and was so excited to set Marsh up with his first set of real clubs. All the kids would take turns going with Al on the occasional golf outing. It was a real treat for them to hang out with their dad and drive the golf cart.
Softball played a big role in our lives for a number of years. He'd play in leagues around town and then Sportspark opened and all games were played there which was great for us since it's close to home. Al would play, I'd watch and cheer him on and the kids would play on the playground and run around the park all evening. We'd eat dinner at the snack bar and chow down on the best pizza around.
After the games the guys and the wives would all hang out on the upper deck and have a beer or two sitting around the tables watching the next game. When the hydrotubes were built the kids would spend time on the tubes while Al played. Good times.
My son-in-law Trevor is now playing softball on a league that plays at Sportspark. My daughter Lesley thought I'd enjoy going and spending some time there with them. She and I watched and cheered Trevor on and let Isla play in the stands. We went upstairs to the snackbar and in to the game room to let Isla run around in a safer, enclosed environment for a while. It brought back such good memories to be there at Sportspark. Sure it brought a tear to my eye as I silently reminisced a bit but I think I felt Al smile down on us too as he watched history repeating itself with this beautiful young family.
The really sad part of the whole evening? The pizza sucks now!
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