I ran into a lovely gal in the PO the other day. She was very frazzled , mailing off an application to a field hockey camp for her daughter at the last minute. She told me it contained a "big fat check" and sometimes she and her husband (not wealthy by any means, this field hockey camp would stretch their finances considerably) wondered if it was all worth it. I told her one of my favorite stories about my eldest daughter.
My eldest fell in love with figure skating at the age of 9 or 10. She pursued it for about 6 years and was doing double jumps and had won some very local, minor competitions on occasion by the time she moved on to other interests. Her father and I spent a fortune we didn't have (read ...credit cards) on lessons, ice time, costumes, custom made skates, two summers at Lake Placid Figure Skating Camp, etc.etc. I have rolled my credit card debts so many times I am probably still paying for some of that stuff. So she didn't go to the Olympics and she eventually gave it up to pursue other interests. Did we waste that money?
With some scholarship money and lots of financial aid loans we managed to send this daughter to a very good private High School. At the end of her Freshman year the school let us know she would be receiving a prestigious academic award for Math and invited us to attend the awards ceremony. Envision an ivy covered campus steeped in history. The elegant auditorium replete with gorgeous carved moldings, beautiful dark wood stage and maroon velvet seating was filled with about 300 people or more mostly from what I call the Country Club Set. I am sure there were others like myself and my husband there, the Poor as Church Mice Set, but we were definitely in the minority.
The stage was inhabited by the Faculty looking very formal. As the Honorees names were called they would mount the stage from the right stairway cross to receive their award and exit down the stairs (about 8 or 10 probably) on the left. None of the recipients knew they were being honored so there was the element of surprise for them as well. Some were clearly daunted by all the attention as they crossed the stage and I think as a Freshman I would have been too in spite of the fact that I was receiving an honor.
When my daughter was called up, she approached the stage, crossed it and received her award with grace and dignity. As she began to descend the left stairway she fell down the flight loudly and spectacularly. There was a stunned silence as the audience wondered if she would rise at all or if a call to 911 should be placed. From where we were sitting we witnessed the fall but could not see her on the floor so had no idea what her condition might be. The next thing we know... up pops my daughter with her arms raised triumphantly over her head (the way skaters and gymnasts do after their programs) and a smile that lit up the place. Amid thunderous applause she calmly walked back to her seat. My husband and I looked at each other and said, "The figure skating." We knew our money had indeed been well spent.
The field hockey mom loved the story and heaved a sigh of relief. That "big fat check" will pay dividends she might never have imagined for her daughter.
Here is what I think. If you have children you should give them everything you possibly can from your heart, mind ,body, soul and yes...your pocketbook. If you aren't willing to give them your "all", however much your "all" may be, then don't have them.
