It’s kind of a cliché saying, “I’m turning into my mother or father,” but it’s definitely true in my case. I for sure have traits of both my parents, but the older I get the more I am turning into my dad.
The Reporter was closed Friday as part of the July 4th weekend, but I had to work anyway because I was so far behind due to a follow-up colonoscopy and a down-the-throat oscopy that I had on Thursday in Round Rock. The down-the-throat oscopy has a name but I can’t remember it. Too much information? It’s just a fact of life at my age. Anyway all went well. Everything is fine.
So Friday the three of us had a very leisurely morning before I went to work. I showered and dressed and then had another cup of tea while Mom and Dad were getting ready in their bedroom.
So we all show back up in the kitchen and all three of us had on our red Earth Day 2021 t-shirts. No planning. It just happened that we all three chose the same outfit. Maybe we are turning into each other at this point.
We have been spending more time together than usual. The air conditioner stopped working in the bedroom side of the house but is working fine in the living room side. We’ve been watching Wimbledon. I don’t normally watch any television but I make an exception for any of the tennis majors.
Watching the Wimbledon games brought back a memory from 1973. Remember the Battle of the Sexes when Billie Jean King played Bobby Riggs at the Astrodome? I didn’t realize it at the time, but this was a big deal. From the History Channel:
“On September 20, 1973, in a highly publicized “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match, top women’s player Billie Jean King, 29, beats Bobby Riggs, 55, a former No. 1 ranked men’s player. Riggs (1918-1995), a self-proclaimed male chauvinist, had boasted that women were inferior, that they couldn’t handle the pressure of the game and that even at his age he could beat any female player. The match was a huge media event, witnessed in person by over 30,000 spectators at the Houston Astrodome and by another 50 million TV viewers worldwide.
“King made a Cleopatra-style entrance on a gold litter carried by men dressed as ancient slaves, while Riggs arrived in a rickshaw pulled by female models. Legendary sportscaster Howard Cosell called the match, in which King beat Riggs 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. King’s achievement not only helped legitimize women’s professional tennis and female athletes, but it was seen as a victory for women’s rights in general.”
A few of those 50 million television spectators were at our house that night because Mom and Dad threw a party with all of their tennis couple friends. Everyone brought signs and rooted for their favorite. The men were all for Bobby and all the women were for Billie Jean. It was a very fun atmosphere and that is also the time that Mom was very into making sangria with a lot of fruit in it. I’m sure that added to the fun atmosphere. And if I remember correctly that was the night that Rockdale’s (and Thorndale’s) favorite Green Bay Packer, Lee Roy Caffey, sat in a chair and ended up breaking it. Some furniture is just not made for linebackers. We all got a big laugh out of it though.
One thing that kind of made me feel old about watching Wimbledon was the fact that Petr Korda used to play in the 80s and 90s, and now his son Sebastian is playing professional tennis. He has two sisters, Jessica and Nelly, who are both professional golfers. Lots of professional athletes in that family.
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