I love my parents so much! They have given so much of themselves, their time, their money, and their energy for me. We will bypass the fact that without them I wouldn’t be here. For this post, I am mostly going to talk about the fact that I would not be in Sweden playing professional volleyball without them.
It all began when I was 11 years old in 5th grade. I had playing soccer in the Washington league for 3 years, and I loved it! I wasn’t very good at it though. I still remember my coach announcing at the start of the game who was playing what position. Every single time after she would announce that I would ask, “where do I go?” Still to this day I do not know the positions in soccer. I think the reason that I loved soccer so much was that my team went undefeated and we got trophies! Anyways, 5th grade is the year that you can start playing sports at my grade school, Immanuel Lutheran. I loved soccer so much that I did not want to play volleyball. In fact, I would have done just about anything to get out of having to play volleyball. My parents, being the wise people that they are, FORCED me to play! I was basically a foot taller than the other 7 girls in my class. My parents told me that I owed to the other girls in my class and my school to give it a try. I fought them over it big time and certainly shed many tears over it! I don’t actually remember starting playing, but I know that I fell in love instantly. I never would have played volleyball if it wasn’t for my parents encouragement and force. ;)
The following year I got an invitation in the mail to try out for club volleyball. I made two different teams, and my parents made the right decision of which team I should play for. For the next 6 years, my parents drove and flew me around the country from Salt Lake City to Atlanta to Minneapolis to Denver to Baltimore for club volleyball. I think there may have been a couple tournaments that one of them was not able to go to, but none of them stick out in my mind. I remember my parents being there all along away. One specific tournament that I remember was in Indianapolis when I was 15. My dad was not able to go, but my mom, papa, and grandma came with me. We ended up winning the tournament qualifying my team to go to nationals. I remember my mom being on the phone with my dad the whole match. As soon as we won, my mom, papa and grandma gave me big hugs with tears in their eyes, then my mom handed me the phone with my dad on the other end. I could tell that he had tears in his eyes as well as he told me how proud he was of me. They sacrificed so much during all of those years of club volleyball, but without their sacrifices and support I would not have succeeded in club which in hand got me a college scholarship.
I don’t remember when I got my first letter from a college about volleyball, but I remember the hundreds of letters that I collected throughout high school. I knew I wanted to play college volleyball, but I had no clue where I wanted to play. Again my parents took me all over the country to different schools to help me find the right one. We went to Mizzou, Nebraska, Oklahoma, SLU, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisville, Indiana, Purdue, and Illinois. As soon as I visited Illinois, I knew that it was the right school for me. Everything about the school just felt right. I had not started my junior year of high school yet, and I wasn’t ready to make that big decision yet. I think my parents knew this, and they didn’t push me to make the decision. That does not mean that they did not encourage me though! For Christmas that year, they gave me a pair of Converse that just so happened to be orange with blue roll-downs. Talk about a hint! That January with the help of my parents’ wisdom and patience, I made the decision to go to the University of Illinois.
My parents were no different during my college career as they were during my club career. They were there every step of the way. They attended every home match and a lot of the away matches. My senior year they went to every single one of my matches! They drove to Penn State! They made two trips to Austin, Texas. For my senior night, they brought with them my sister, my brother, and my nephew. To top that off, let me explain my parents’ schedule for the weekends. My mom teaches kindergarten so she works until 3pm on Fridays. It is around a 3.5-hour drive to Champaign so my dad would be in the car waiting on the street for her at 3pm. They would drive straight to Champaign to get there just in time for the 7pm volleyball match. We would normally go to Black Dog for dinner after the match. Saturday, I would have practice and other things going on, but we always found a little bit of time to hang out. They would attend the match again Saturday night at 7pm. After the match, they would come give me a hug goodbye before hitting the road right away. My dad is a pastor so they had to be back for church on Sunday morning. They normally arrived home between 1-2am before my dad had to wake up at 6am for church. Did I mention they did this almost every weekend from August to December for 4 years?! My parents’ enthusiasm and love was with me throughout my entire collegiate career.
Now that I am playing in Sweden, it is very hard on both my parents and me. We have never been apart for this long in my 23 years. In my previous 12 years of volleyball, I don’t think my parents have missed a combined number of matches as they are missing right now. Of course it makes all of us sad, but it is because of all of the previous years and support that I have had from my parents that I am able to do this. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have Skype and Facebook to talk with my parents. I miss them so much!
All of this brings me to what they did this weekend. They went to Champaign just to watch Illinois’ volleyball match in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament. I know this was difficult for them to be there with me being so far away. It makes me so proud that they were there! They also talked with my friends. I miss my friends a lot too, but it made me so happy to see my parents and my friends together.
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| My parents with my friends Jamie and Nikki. |
My parents also surprised me when they sent me a picture of them at Green Street Cafe, my favorite bar in Champaign!
As my mom told me, “If we couldn't see you we were going see your friends!” It really made me happy to know that my parents and my friends were able to meet each other. I wish I could be there with them, but knowing that they are together is second best! I was feeling down about not being able to be in Champaign this weekend, but my parents being there for me made it way easier on me. I love them so much and appreciate all that they have done for me! <3
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