Blast From The Past vol. 1

One of my main goals with this blog is to use it as a means of chronicling my life so that in the future I can look back and have fond memories (or not so fond memories, but memories none the less) of where I went and what I did.  In doing so I would like to include old photos I come across from my life pre-blog.  They will be featured under the appropriate title "Blast From The Past".

Sometimes I wish I had a time machine and could travel back to my childhood and experience certain moments all over again.  I feel that the word nostalgia is to often used in a negative manner.  The most common definition is that of  "a bittersweet longing for things, persons, and places of the past" or "homesickness".  To me, this definition is indicative of regret rather than nostalgia.  What is so wrong with looking back upon the past with strong feelings and emotions?  Sometimes we all need to look back upon happy times and remember the joy that we felt during a birthday party, or the sorrow at the passing of a beloved pet.  Our pasts shape us and define what we have become.  You can't change the past but you can retain the memories and I choose to look back on all of my memories (good or bad) with fondness.

With that said, this first installment of the series is from March, 2003.  This is the year I was a freshman in high school.  I played on a home school basketball team called the Trailblazers.  Now, I'm not gonna deny that I was marginally talented at best but I had a great time playing and I made some great friends (one of whom, Tanya, was a bridesmaid in my wedding).  There were also a lot of lessons learned, such as 1) nothing is ever earned without hard work 2) teamwork is achieved when all members show respect for each other, and 3) if the team gives up more than 8 offensive rebounds in a game you will all be running suicide sprints for an hour during the following practice.  Maybe this is why I have become so neurotic about working out?

The pic was taken during our end of season tournament in Oklahoma City, OK.  We rode the Greyhound to get there and here we are standing outside a bus stop while the bus was refueled.  (The bus stop is a story in itself. One that involves pools of urine under benches and offers to purchase marijuana from other Greyhound patrons).  So here I am in all of my freshman glory.

I'm on the far left with the glasses.  Luckily, not all of the team was this short.  Can you imagine being a 5'4" 15 year old weighing in at 108 lbs, and having your coach put you in the game to play Center where you have to post up a 6'1" senior  who is quite possibly twice your body weight?  I've lived it.  It's not pretty.  Thank goodness for the tall girls who were designed by God for the purpose of playing this position:)