Musings

Such a joyous word! It is hard to say it without smiling. When I reflect on victory the first memory that comes to mind is the summer before my junior year of high school. For the entire summer, I had been playing in a local competitive junior tennis tournament series.   Some of the tournaments were close to home, others were a bit out of the way. All of them were hot and humid. Muggy is the word most locals use to describe the disgusting feeling of lethargy and sweat that characterizes summers in the Mid-Atlantic region.   It was muggy that first weekend of August when I finally made it through to the finals, the championship match. I don't recall many details, but I do remember the triumph. In that moment, accepting the first place trophy, (after drinking copious amounts of water,) I experienced a rush of energy; a swell of pride; a sense of awe. I felt accomplished.   It was the first time I had planned and persevered to achieve a set goal. Sure, I had alwa...

June groggily awoke from her medication-induced slumber. “What day is it?” she thought to herself, wearily hoping to remember that it was a weekend. To her dismay, it was Tuesday, another workday in the endless cycle of drudgery. It took all her effort to will her body out of bed. Erratically June stumbled downstairs to the kitchen and poured herself a large glass of water. She sighed deeply as she took the daily prescription box off the counter. Staring intently at the cocktail of medicine, she hesitated before swallowing the lot. Mindlessly, she opened the blinds on the sliding glass door. For a brief instant, a ray of light entered her slowed, scattered conscious. It was already 8:30 and the sun was streaming the window. Wistfully she glanced at the calendar, wanting desperately for something to be written there. As usual it was blank. All she ever had, it seemed, was her dead-end job at the local grocery store. “Guess it’s time to get dressed”, she mumbled to herself. Still s...