Tennis & Life CampsPage 2
The Gift of Trust
When you give, if you trust, you give freely. You don’t ask in return. You just give. This is a rare thing. I witness it all the time in people like you at TLC. A kind gesture without ulterior motive; a belief that if you reveal your vulnerability, you will not be […]
What Do You Do When There is No Tomorrow?
TLC Blog – What Do You Do When There is No Tomorrow? That day in college, I was at the pool for one reason and one reason only. To impress a sophomore. Make her notice me. So she would then go out with me. I had my dive planned perfectly. Push off the springboard with […]
Brainwashed at TLC?
Sometime in the last year, I was telling TLC co-founder, Barb Wilkinson, about a tennis mom who said she would never send her child to TLC because “they brainwash them there about sportsmanship, and I don’t want my child to be taken advantage of in tournaments.” My tendency, upon hearing things like that, is to […]
Liz Retzlaff: Truth-teller
“I’ve known Liz since I started working at TLC 8 years ago. She’s experienced being the only woman in a leadership role at times, sexism from coworkers and campers, and many times where she’s felt alone. And through all of that she’s persisted and is one of the strongest leaders, male or female, in our […]
Let Love Serve in Action
When you come across someone with the TLC attitude, you notice. When it is someone working right beside you, you are grateful daily for it. When Kevin Lungay, TLC’s Assistant Director of Operations, told me a month ago he was leaving for another position at a non-profit TLC has collaborated with, Youth Frontiers, there were […]
A Day to Celebrate: Happy National Girls & Women in Sports Day!
Today is February 3rd, 2021. For most of us, it’s a typical Wednesday. We woke up, had our morning cup of coffee, got ready for work or school, and are now taking our lunch break while scrolling through social media. On what seems like a typical day for most, for me, this is a […]
Claiming Today
Steve Wilkinson, meet Sasha. Sasha, meet Steve. The two of you would have gotten along beautifully. Six years ago today, Steve died. He lived as full a life as anyone I’ve known, but it was still too short. He didn’t decide to go, terminal cancer decided for him. The thing he continued to learn (and […]
Finding Peace in the Midst of Uncertainty
It’s been a rough year. But today, I will recall my conversation with family camper Kim this week, that made me laugh so hard my spouse, Leandra, came out of her office afterwards and said, “You sounded so happy.” Because, during these times, happiness can sometimes seem like a treasure you can’t remember where you […]
Healing Our Brokenness
Our country is broken into millions of little pieces. Why? Because every human being I know is broken. Can we ever be put back together? That depends. We are always faced with two choices with our brokenness. We can take those jagged pieces of our lives and we can slash, and we can stab, and […]
The Meditation of Tennis
I’m not a good meditator. I know I’m “supposed” to be. We hear all the time how meditation will calm you and make you a more centered person. I have tried. And tried. And tried. But “centered” and ADHD aren’t usually two concepts you use in the same sentence. So tennis becomes my meditation. On […]