Speaking of Sports...Watching Jimbo

When Matt was still in the formative years of his youth sports career, his older sister and brother were in their prime. Among their most loyal fans was one Stuart K, aka "Grandpa", who at ages 92 - 93 seldom missed a game or a match:

James, aka "Jimbo" to Stuart, played basketball in elementary school and JV basketball and football in high school. He enjoyed moderate success in both.

James' tour de force was youth soccer. He played stellar defense on a team appropriately named "Anarchy." A strong, cohesive and talented team, Anarchy won most of their games. The opposition always had trouble getting the ball past "Mr. D.", aka "Pez Man." James played an aggressive game, with an uncanny ability to spot the ball's ultimate forward progress, and to arrive at that spot in time to send la pelota the other way. He relinquished ground or position to no one, suffering at least one concussion as a result. (He recovered without sequelae.)

"Jimbo" enjoyed a special relationship with his nonagenarian grandfather. Stuart recognized and emphasized all that was good about James. Such was his nature. He just had that way of making youth feel special and valued...even if it was nothing more dramatic than showing up, wheelchair and Parkinsonian traits notwithstanding, to watch you play. James, being a kind and loving soul in his own right, returned that special sense of regard and respect. He was always there to help out, including the sometimes daunting task of helping his grandfather get up into the bleachers to watch his sister play volleyball. (A future post coming on that.)

Some time has passed since those days. Granpa has been gone for over seven years, and James is now a young adult. The lives of these two men interconnected for just a couple of years. Hopefully the memories of that special relationship will never fade.

(Missing from this anthology is a prized photo of James in his football uniform with his maternal grandmother. I just can't find it. Hopefully it will turn up to be added later. 

Finally, my older children may be heaving a collective sigh of relief that their similar exploits occurred before the digital age. Albeit not memorialized on digital media and not postable on blog or FB, those exploits are certainly relished as well.)