Misty by Misty May-Treanor & Jill Lieber Steeg

Author:Misty May-Treanor & Jill Lieber Steeg
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scribner
Published: 2010-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

13

TOUGHEST YEAR

My mother taught me a lot about girl power.

Throughout early 2001, it was becoming very clear that Mom’s cancer treatments weren’t accomplishing what the doctors had hoped. She still met her volleyball cronies at the beach, whenever she felt well enough to get there. She talked a bit about her treatments while passing the ball back and forth, but she really just went to the beach to forget about life for a while. She wanted to get lost in the sport that she loved so much. She wanted to feel the sand between her toes, hear the waves tumble onto the beach, and sense the warm sun on her body. She wanted to go back in time, to the days when she was young, vibrant, and healthy. She wanted to be surrounded by her special group of female friends, whose warmth, love, strength, and athletic spirit fortified and empowered her.

Late in summer 2001, Mom placed an emotional call to Sandra Golden, one of her “old” volleyball friends, and asked Sandra if she’d play with her in the Huntsman World Senior Games, in St. George, Utah, that October. Sandra remembers being surprised that Mom wanted to participate in a tournament against some of the world’s best senior athletes, since she’d been too weak to play volleyball much of the summer. Without hesitating, Sandra said, “Yes,” because she was so honored Mom had asked her.

Indeed, it was a bold move on Mom’s part, but then again, she never was one to let the parade pass her by. For fifteen years, she’d played with Alice Sanchez’s Mavericks team at the U.S. Senior Nationals. She’d always left everything on the court, and yet she’d always been overlooked for national awards. Alice believes Mom’s being passed over had a lot to do with politics. “They just pick people that look flashy and maybe put a ball straight down, where Barbara was just a steady-Eddie player,” Alice says. “She was tough, tough, tough. Very, very aggressive, just a very tough personality.”

To illustrate Mom’s passion, Alice recounts a conversation she had with Mom when she turned sixty-five. Mom, who was forty-eight at the time, proclaimed, “Alice, when I get to be your age, I hope I’m still playing volleyball.” Today, Alice is seventy-five-plus—and still playing.

I’ll let Sandra tell the rest of the 2001 Huntsman World Senior Games story, as she recently shared in a beautifully written tribute letter for this book. She titled it, “A Barbara May Story,” and I cried when I read it. I know I never could have come up with words as meaningful as hers:

After I hung up, I realized Barbara’s call was not about quitting on life or giving up volleyball, something she loved. Not yet! Barb was very emotional about playing competitively again and had decided to play in one more major tournament, the Huntsman World Games, in St. George, Utah. It would be our first appearance at the Games, but it would be the fifteenth anniversary of the Games. Teams from around the world would be present, representing all major sports.

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