League Tennis

You learn a lot from playing tennis. I returned last night from the state championships with my little team of 2.5 players (beginners). We wanted to win, but it wasn't a higher priority than savoring the experience. Everyone on the team is supportive of one another, so it has been an amazing season. We're not 'friends' really, just a group of women who play tennis together more or less once a week. That's it. But it clicked, and we all had fun. Can't say that about some of the teams we played though!! Really, tennis can bring out the not-very-ladylike inner bitch in some women. But not us. We had fun.

The day before we left for the state championships, we were told to come to the clubhouse for team pictures. We showed up at the appointed time (noon) and were ushered into a private dining room. The table was set with cloth and china, fresh flowers, rose petals scattered over the tablecloth, and a rose at each place. Under each rose was a wrapped package from a local jeweler, with a little rosebud lapel pin attached to the center of the bow. The package contained an engraved Reed and Barton silverplate pictureframe. There were champagne glasses at each place as well.

We were stunned. A 'secret fan' had treated us all to a surprize luncheon in our honor. I was floored. This is the first year we've been together as a team. There's not a shared history. As the cameras snapped and the glasses were raised, we felt like princesses. One of the women, married 38 years, ventured, "I think this might have been my husband. He knows the jeweler, and he knows that crepes are my favorite." He just happened to be dining in another part of the building, so she sent for him, and found out that it was his doing. He just beamed at having pulled off a surprize on every one of us, and we all tripped over one another to thank him.

He developed the pictures, and sent each one of us prints.

Can you imagine the generosity and thoughtfulness that would do this for a group of women he didn't even KNOW? Just for love for his wife. I'm still speechless.