Author: nhagberg

People are strewn all over the courts, lying face up, or standing stock still.  It is as quiet as a graveyard.  But it might be the most alive minute of the day at TLC. It is a minute of being completely present.  Of leaving every care behind.  Of remembering who or what we are grateful…

TLC summer is in full swing.  It is everything we hoped for.  Except…   We have not seen the sun in five days. We have lost outdoor court time each of those days. The clouds have pressed down on us, even when it’s not raining.   And yet….   We have the magnificent bubble.  That…

He was a snot nosed little kid when I first met him.  Ok, maybe not snot nosed, but he was not tall.  As a 15 year old, probably 5’4”.  And curious and bright eyed about everything.  A sponge.  Someone who you noticed.  Bright.  Articulate.  Social skills beyond his years. He came to TLC, and as…

I had the privilege of going on the road to meet TLC adult campers recently. One trip was heart wrenching.  Trudi Roesch, longtime adult and family camper, advocate and cheerleader of all things TLC, ringleader of pulling groups together to make the five-hour trip to Gustavus from Cedarburg, passed away after a short battle with…

Twenty years ago today, March 29, 5:30 PM, Steve Wilkinson’s birthday, the future of Tennis and Life Camps was in question. A mile wide tornado, the largest in Minnesota history, ripped through St. Peter and Gustavus Adolphus College leaving an eerie nothing in its wake.  90% of all the trees in town and on campus…

Last weekend, our daughter swam in her college conference swim championships. She was seeded anywhere from 7th to 10th in her individual events, and had one of the slower relay times on her relay teams going in. She swam the meet of her life. She ended up with five firsts and a fourth, and was…

This is a love story. The end of December, Boy and Betty Toy and I met at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis.  We sat across the desk from each other, Boy and Betty with pens in hand.  Boy teared up.  He said, “I woke up this morning. l looked at Betty and said, ‘Can…

The Fridinger family – a longtime TLC family – has been named the National USTA Family of the Year. And they don’t want anyone to know. They don’t think what they do is a big deal.  Or should be made a big deal.  They would be happy if everyone would just go away.  So they…

Tonight is the darkest, longest night of the year.  Winter Solstice. Sometimes it can feel like the darkness will never lift. We are divided politically, religiously, economically, racially; by gender, sexuality, personally, and societally.  We shout over each other.  We do not listen.  We do not ask what it feels like to be the person…

Money. Everyone wants it.  Nobody seems to have enough of it, whether you are a billionaire or someone who is struggling to pay your rent or mortgage.  It is an intoxicating drug.  I know.  My eyes get big whenever I think of winning the lottery.  And I have never even played the lottery.   But that…