Winding Down a Sports Career

This is my last year sitting through swim meets.
Tucker is a senior in high school and he has already decided that he doesn't want to swim in college, so the feelings are a little bittersweet.
Yes, swim meets are long and warm, but I'm so grateful that they aren't outside in the cold.
Tucker swam at sectionals on Saturday and won each of his events.

The beard on his face was thick and, of course, he hasn't shaved the rest of his body yet. 

Now he goes on to Districts. Every year he has shaved his head for districts but he and the other guys decided this year not to shave their heads. They don't want to be bald for prom and graduation, even though their hair would have grown back some.

And Tucker doesn't want to have to wear a wig for the high school musical a few weeks after swim season.
If he finishes in the top two at Districts, he'll go on to States the following week.
Earl has to work on Friday, so I'll be the only one in the stands to cheer on Tucker in what might be his final high school swim.

Saturday Snapshot -- Swim Successes

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I'm kind of hungover today from a day filled with sports yesterday. I ran off to teach my 8 a.m. class, then my husband and I hosted 18 kids for breakfast preparing to swim at the District meet.

My son Tucker, 15, is a sophomore and was swimming in 4 events.

I might as well cut to the chase and say that Tucker made it to the podium for all 4 events, taking 7th place in 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke then finishing in 3rd for both relays he swam. The top 8 swimmers get medals and stand on the podium to receive them.
I was so excited. The whole day was exhilarating, even though we are waiting to hear if their team made it to states. I didn't even mind that I missed the basketball game that my other son was playing in.
Here are Tucker and his teammates, bald, on the podium for their relay.

Premature Balding -- Really This Time

Well, swim districts morning dawned and Tucker stumbled out of the bedroom at 6:20 a.m.to find me sitting at my desk.
"Goggles," he said. "I need new goggles."
Then he went back to bed.
Of course, he needs new goggles on the morning of swim districts, not the day before or the week before. But we had other things to take care of first.
So after a trip to Kroger for NutriGrain bars and granola, I drove Tucker to the barber. He chose to shave his head for swim team.

Here he is before the haircut. Even with his hair cut very short, it's bleached out, not his normal dark color.
The barber began with a trimmer set long and then reduced it even more.
He was willing to make the pictures interesting. Too bad this one is a little blurry.
The barber made it as short as possible with the trimmer then said he could go one step shorter with a razor.
What? How could it get shorter than this?
But, the barber laid a hot, wet towel on Tucker's head then lathered it up with warm shaving cream. Slowly, he began to scrape his razor across Tucker's head.

Luckily, the weather is unseasonably warm. The morning started at 58 degrees. Tucker walked out of the barber shop and felt the breeze on his bald head.
We drove up the highway and bought new goggles then went to the team breakfast.
There, Tucker met up with more of his own kind -- bald boys ready to swim fast this afternoon.

Early Baldness

I'm in an email fight with the high school swim coach.
She sent a message yesterday about preparation for the Sectional swim meet this Saturday. For boys, "On your head, hair must be completely off."
That's right. Bald.
Tucker has been fretting about this all season. He does not want to be bald.
He's 14. He's the fastest swimmer they have on the team. He can put on a swim cap -- like Michael Phelps did.
My arguments have run the gamut.
*The girls don't have to shave their heads.
*This is high school, not world-class competition.
*The world record holders are not bald.
She responded that this is a bonding experience for the boys.
I gently explained that bonding happens when people decide to do things that bring them closer together.
Bondage is when they are forced to do things.

As a freshman, Tucker has made many concessions, beginning with the tiny Speedo swimsuit. Previously, he always wore a knee-length suit. A 14-year-old does not want to put his junk on display. At 17 or 18, he may be happy, even eager, to wear a tiny Speedo. He might also joyously shave his head, first into a mohawk one week then bald the following week.
But 14-year-old boys are a little more fragile than 17-year-old boys. They worry about what people say.
Now Tucker is worried that the boys on the swim team will be mad if he doesn't shave and the kids at the high school will make fun of him if he does shave.
Ah, a teenage dilemma.
I, of course, get no credit for the things I didn't say to the coach, like, I wonder if the athletic director would support this mandate... followed by a pregnant pause while the swim coach realized I was threatening to report her.
To me, the annoying thing is that we have to fight about something that might improve Tucker's time by 1000th of a second. Work on his technique, not his hair length.
As I was writing this post, the swim coach called to talk. I still resisted threatening, although she thought my choice of the word "hazing" was a little strong.
I apologized for that.
In the end, she agreed to let the boys cut their hair very short and wear two swim caps if they do not want to join the team camaraderie.
Tucker doesn't know I fought this battle for him and he wouldn't thank me if he did. As a matter of fact, he might decide to shave his head in the spirit of the moment, but I'll know that he chose that for himself.

Outward Signs

Dream Girl had her second dose of chemotherapy on Thursday. Then she met us on Saturday morning for our 7.5 mile run. "What?" you say. I know. I feel the same way. She doesn't think she is amazing, but she inspires me. I would be one of those women who stayed in bed expecting people to wait on me. I'd be like, "I have Cancer!!!"
She just keeps going.
Her luxuriant brown hair has hung in there pretty well. Two weeks after the first chemotherapy session, as she prepared for the next one, her hair began to fall out.
Here's part of the email she sent to describe it:

"I'd been feeling the gentle touches on my arms and shoulders as my beautiful hair leaves me, just like autumn leaves falling gently from the trees to the ground. But just like the trees and their leaves, my beautiful hair will return in time."

So, on Friday, the day after her second chemotherapy treatment, her friends gathered to help her shave her head. She still has stubble that comes out in clumps if she pulls on it and she still has eyebrows which, she says, makes a difference.
I can't believe how gorgeous she is without hair. She feels comfortable like this -- Demi Moore as G.I. Jane or Natalie Portman in V for Vendetta.
Take a look: