V is for Varsity

This is a picture of me wearing my mother's 

Varsity Sweater.

You can't see the big "F" for Fullerton Union High School

or the "56" on the sleeve for her graduation year,

but this is her sweater.

She earned it playing Varsity Tennis of all things.

I remembered that she had tennis rackets in the garage.

We never played, and I don't remember her playing.

But she wouldn't get rid of them.

I learned one day that her father had bought them for her;

quite an expensive gift given that my grandfather

was a migrant farm worker with four other kids to feed,

 but he was proud of her accomplishments.

They are vintage wooden racquets with the

wooden racquet frame presses still on them.

http://jimstennis.com/contextRoot/html/racketPressesCollection/presses.html

Her specialty was women's pairs, and I guess
her and her partner won a lot of matches.

I kind of like to imagine my mom like that,
young and aggressive.
Full of life and verve.
Her father would end up dying just before her graduation.
Maybe she would have gone on to play college tennis.
Maybe she would have had a scholarship.

Maybe I need to talk to her some more,
and hear about her varsity days.
Let her re-live those matches, one more time.