My mother never played sports, other than an occasional nine
holes of golf years ago when I was still learning the difference
between a fade and a slice.
But what I’ve come to learn is that my mother does share
something in common with all top athletes
– especially those that forge ahead and make their way into the
Hall of Fame.
My mother never played sports, other than an occasional nine holes of golf years ago when I was still learning the difference between a fade and a slice.
But what I’ve come to learn is that my mother does share something in common with all top athletes – especially those that forge ahead and make their way into the Hall of Fame.
Those attributes that she shares with them are perseverance, dedication, tenacity and commitment. Without those qualities no athlete would ever be able to distinguish themselves on the playing field.
Without those qualities my mother would not be receiving a degree in psychology from Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont today at an age when most people are contemplating retirement.
So instead of writing my weekly column that often focuses on area sports stars like Barry Bonds, I decided to also write about my mother – a real star in my life.
It’s true that her qualities never took root on a baseball diamond or any other sports venue, but my mother has shown her star qualities in other ways.
And just about the time this paper gets tossed into your driveway, she’ll be receiving her diploma, concluding a long, twisting journey that started nearly a decade before astronauts stepped onto the surface of the moon.
Sylvia’s educational quest for a four-year degree started in Massachusetts. And it probably would have ended just four short years later had she not had to enter the workforce early after yours truly was born, so that my dad could attend law school.
Since then a lot of time has passed and a number of changes in her life have taken place, but the burning desire to finish what she started during those early years in Auburndale, Mass. never left her.
Just as Barry Bonds has to play through aches and pains every night this season in order to continue on his storied quest to surpass Hank Aaron on the all-time homerun list, my mother has never stopped seeking her dream of earning a college diploma despite a number of setbacks and sidetracks.
Like the time she learned in the late 1980s that not a single unit of education that she received in the 1960s was transferable and that she would have to start all over again.
But like Bonds, she shrugged it off and forged on.
The news of having to start over must have been a harder pill to swallow than some of the huge vitamin C pills that she’s been selling at her health food store in Redwood City since 1976.
But somehow, some way, even with a 60-hour-plus work schedule and a number of other commitments to boot, she found enough time in her hectic schedule, which also includes early a.m. jogs around the nearby high school track, to go to school and enrich her life.
It didn’t matter how long it took her. It doesn’t matter if she parlays this degree into another career. The point is she finished the long marathon. Congratulations, Mom. Today is your day to enjoy your accomplishments.
Sincerely,
Your No. 1 Fan
