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My Mom was a tennis player. As a kid through college, she was the Oklahoma State champion many years. When I was growing up she used to routinely (and with glee) humiliate me by picking me up places dressed in her tennis skirts - this was back in the day when Ladies did not even wear their bermuda shorts much in public, only in the back yard.
She played competitively until her knees gave out about the time she hit 75. Her seniors team won a lot of trophies and she was dragging Daddy (who never did play at all) to tournaments in Alabama in August when they were in their 70s.
But, this entry is about 1985. I was working at IBM in Charlotte, NC. Mom and Dad lived in the moutains of North Carolina where Daddy ran a textile company. For Christmas the year before, Daddy gave Mom a luxury trip to London and tickets to centre court at Wimbledon. She was so excited and so was he. I remember one big issue for him was should he buy first class airline tickets or stay at a really fancy hotel. They were going British Air and I looked into some options and discovered Super Club which was most of the same first class services but cheaper. He found a marvelous little boutique hotel just off St.James Park. After six months of fun planning, they were set to go.
A week before they were due to leave, Mom called me at work one day and said 'If Daddy can't go, would you to to England with me?'.
Turns out unions had reared their heads again and Daddy was just not comfortable leaving. I was not involved with the decision making process but I'm sure it wasn't easy. But, was I interested in helping out??!! You betcha!!
I loved those Super Club tickets AND the boutique hotel - what good advice I gave. Mom and I went and we had a great time.
June/July 1985 was hotter than hell in London. I'm saying even those whacky Brits and their mad dogs were ducking the noon day sun. And I don't know how it is these days, but ice cubes are not prolific in England. We cherished every one we could find. We went to the tennis tournament for four or five days. On day 1, I'm scouting out the ice situation. I finally found one drink stand that had a small bucket of ice cubes they set out in the morning only - presumably for those ugly Americans. I found two of the biggest containers I could find and filled them. We kept the containers in the shade under our seats and made that ice last as long as we could. It was hot.
We were in England for two weeks and we had a wonderful time. Here's Mom scoping the action (thumbnail):
This morning I got a note from her that she's really feeling good today. Her apartment has two bedrooms and a center living room/dining room/sitting room combo. She has TV's in each and today they are all tuned to Wimbledon.
She played competitively until her knees gave out about the time she hit 75. Her seniors team won a lot of trophies and she was dragging Daddy (who never did play at all) to tournaments in Alabama in August when they were in their 70s.
But, this entry is about 1985. I was working at IBM in Charlotte, NC. Mom and Dad lived in the moutains of North Carolina where Daddy ran a textile company. For Christmas the year before, Daddy gave Mom a luxury trip to London and tickets to centre court at Wimbledon. She was so excited and so was he. I remember one big issue for him was should he buy first class airline tickets or stay at a really fancy hotel. They were going British Air and I looked into some options and discovered Super Club which was most of the same first class services but cheaper. He found a marvelous little boutique hotel just off St.James Park. After six months of fun planning, they were set to go.
A week before they were due to leave, Mom called me at work one day and said 'If Daddy can't go, would you to to England with me?'.
Turns out unions had reared their heads again and Daddy was just not comfortable leaving. I was not involved with the decision making process but I'm sure it wasn't easy. But, was I interested in helping out??!! You betcha!!
I loved those Super Club tickets AND the boutique hotel - what good advice I gave. Mom and I went and we had a great time.
June/July 1985 was hotter than hell in London. I'm saying even those whacky Brits and their mad dogs were ducking the noon day sun. And I don't know how it is these days, but ice cubes are not prolific in England. We cherished every one we could find. We went to the tennis tournament for four or five days. On day 1, I'm scouting out the ice situation. I finally found one drink stand that had a small bucket of ice cubes they set out in the morning only - presumably for those ugly Americans. I found two of the biggest containers I could find and filled them. We kept the containers in the shade under our seats and made that ice last as long as we could. It was hot.
We were in England for two weeks and we had a wonderful time. Here's Mom scoping the action (thumbnail):
This morning I got a note from her that she's really feeling good today. Her apartment has two bedrooms and a center living room/dining room/sitting room combo. She has TV's in each and today they are all tuned to Wimbledon.
