What does a beachfront hotel in Phuket, Thailand, a Rooftop in a classy Malaysian Hotel and Windsor Park in Tampa, Florida have in common? They all feature great tennis courts and Jeff and I have had the unusual experience of playing competitive games in each of these locations. Nothing to blog about – usually. But each of my tennis games with Jeff occurred within short weeks of some major medical procedure or the other that would have knocked mere mortals off their feet. But not Jeff. Rather than sit in his balcony window and enjoy the sunrise across the ocean, he and I spent several exhausting hours fighting tooth and nail on the tennis courts in Phuket. This experience was repeated a few months later at the tennis courts by my home in Tampa and then later when we traveled to Malaysia to work on a school project there. I guess I could have taken it easy on him and let him win – hey he was already a winner by simply stepping out onto the courts! But I knew Jeff would not want that and so we went at it with complete abandon forgetting for those precious moments his illness and all the reasons why he should not be pushing himself to the limits of his physical endurance in his weakened state. If one were judging by his life experiences alone, or his Joie de Vivre, it is a safe bet that Jeff has lived well over a hundred years. Certainly, he has contributed more to society, to his family and to the children of the world than many of us would ever be able to in several lifetimes.
Photo shows Jeff resting up at restaurant at the foot of the Petronas Towers in Malaysia after intense tennis session followed by workshops for new International school in Malaysia-Singapore border town of Nusajaya.
No comments:
Post a Comment