Feb 12, 2009

When Joseph was 7 and Daniel 5 I signed them up for the Greenburgh Swim Team. It was only $25/summer for the family; and the swim lessons I had signed them up for were not really teaching them how to swim. I thought they could have some fun, meet some kids and become adequate swimmers. I had no idea that our town pool had a huge team that started practices at 7am weekday mornings, had meets three times a week during the summer and all the older kids on the team were either very athletic, and/or swam year around, some for the most elite programs in the country. Some of them were trying out for the Olympic team that summer.

The first morning of swim practice Ray and I had a big fight because he did not think it would be worth it for the kids to get up at 7am to get to practice - after all they could not even really swim. The first meet two weeks later was a little crazy because they really could not swim, but somehow they managed to do the 25 yard race, and finish without drowning! They improved rapidly, and by the end of the summer both of them were in the core group for their age groups. At the end of the summer, Ted, the coach came up to me and asked if the boys were going to swim during the winter. My first reaction was no way, that was not the crazy life style I wanted for our family. He convinced me to show up at the Fairview Community Center and let them swim with FAST. For the next 6 years all three boys swam for FAST (Fairview Association Swim team), and during the summer they swam or coached at Greenburgh until last summer (I don't think Kyle will go back this summer, but one never knows). Sixteen years with the Greenburgh Swim Team! Those kids and parents and coaches, and later coaches like Bob, Dom and Ilan and their teams are all part of Joe's life. He learned how to swim, how to be friends with a diverse group of kids, and how to teach others his love for the sport from all of his swimming experience.

This morning I went to do my laps at Fairview (now TDYCC), and I saw Ted for the first time since the wake. Today the swim team leaves for their annual Martin Luther King Meet in Washington DC (we actually never went to the meet because it was our ski week with family). Ted gave me a big hug, and brought me into his office, he had a gift for me. The team had had an invitational meet in November to kick off the season, and they had had an event for Joseph, and an award plaque was given in his name. The plaque had been paid for by donations from the team, and one of the parents of Joe's students designed the plaque. Replicas were made for Ray, me, Kyle and Dan. Ted is hoping that Kyle can make it to the meet this weekend and maybe we can make it to the banquet at the end of the year. Kyle and Dan can visit the team and help coach. Ted remembers Joseph as a little kid and as a young man; he knew Joseph and loved him and was waiting for great things from him. And he is so impressed with the reach that he had, and still has, in the community.