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A Sad Day

(2022-09-25 21:18:57) 下一個

Tim decided to give up jiu-jitsu, for the time being.

 

The third week into fall and after failing last year, he re-applied and got in

the notorious robotics club. Engineering was his future, he seemed to think and

I was happy for him.

 

It turned out to be a black hole sucking all his free time. Tim worked in the

lab after school three hours a day and four days a week. Moreover, like many

things in the Land of the Free, the way to get better at robotics was to compete

and extra hours were dished out to tournaments. Something had to give.

 

As he came down to join me as usual for our Saturday morning class, I blurted

"You don't have to go to jiu-jitsu if you go only once a week." "OK. In that

case, I won't go then. You have a good time." and he turned back before I could

say anything. In fact, I was lost for words.

 

Inside, I was crushed. I had always seen his health and physical development as my

parental duty. We came to jiu-jitsu after years of swimming when in the end we

were both fed up with the meets. He had been grappling for the last five years and

we were recently talking about this October he would change his kid yellow-black

belt for an adult white belt. I would sure miss drilling with him on the mat and

the quality time we shared in the car driving back home after sparring. An era was

over, just like that. For a moment, an impotent rage swept me away.

 

Oh. The memories we had! I remembered his earlier fights with stronger and

bigger kids in this gym and his win in a Jiu-Jitsu World League tournament early

2019 (which I later shared with my dad). I told Tim that he made me proud and

after winning gold, he no longer owed the family anything. (An ABC, this banana

boy had been proud of our family heritage. I had no idea why.)

 

It was nobody's fault and, like past losses, I could only accept. Besides, his

life had only just begun and we had planted good seeds. Maybe I was a bit

short-sighted and sentimental.

 

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