My Life, 5 Year Snapshots (1990 thru 1994) - Part 1/3

 

The period between 1990 and 1994 were among the most eventful for me and my growing little family. As the calendar flipped to the decade of the 1990's, we were still living in Jeana's childhood home in Lakewood, California. We had been there since July of 1983.

Jeana and my marriage had survived the "7 year itch" and was closing in on a decade of wedded bliss. Maelynne, our oldest, would turn 8 in 1990, Tara 7 and Aubree 4. 

FAMILY EXPANSION

Perhaps the biggest news we discovered in early 1990 was that Munson baby #4 would greet us later that year. Being the clever human that she is, Jeana informed me of the exciting surprise by giving me a card. It was around Valentine's Day, so the card was not a surprise but the bulge in the envelope was certainly intriguing. 

I don't recall much about the card but the "bulge" turned out to be a pacifier... a BABY pacifier. I was confused for a split second before the meaning became clear... we had another baby on the way. Maybe this one would finally be the boy that everyone seemed to wish for us.

On October 2nd, 1990... we greeted Alaina Jae Munson into the family. Obviously, it wasn't a boy but frankly, I was NEVER dissatisfied or upset by the gender of any of our babies. I thanked God for the gift of life that He entrusted us with and this one was no different. Four girls... one more and we would have a basketball team.

The "one more" part, however, was out of the question. We were done having kids. Emphasis on the "we." OUR decision was that four were enough. That sound you hear from above is God chuckling. I will get to that story in another full decade. Be patient.

COACHING KIDS

One of my passions in life is coaching. I started coaching at 18 while attending college. After classes, I would rush from San Dimas, CA to Mid-Cities Baptist School in South Gate, CA and coach a junior high basketball team. The team was made up of 5 inner city kids. Yes, 5. Nobody on the bench and very little talent on the court. Lost every game... but I was hooked on the process, the building of relationships and just the challenge of it all.

So, as soon as Maelynne and Tara were old enough to play, I signed them up for softball. Their first year, I enjoyed watching them from the bleachers. Year 2, their coached asked if I could help out. Year 3, Tara made the All-Star Team, the Artesia Punishers, and I was asked to be the head coach. We traveled all over Southern California, playing in tournaments. We were one of the better teams around and my passion for coaching grew. It's amazing what winning does for everyone involved in the program.

I think Tara was about 7 or 8 years old when we were told about an older gentlemen that gave pitching lessons and we sought him out. Bob Todd, an ASA Hall of Fame inductee. He took a liking to Tara and taught her the fundamentals of fast pitch softball. About 11 years later, Tara's freshman softball season at Cedarville University out of Ohio, that Bob Todd came to watch Tara play when the team traveled to Orange County, CA for their Spring Break games. That was super cool.

The next sport we tackled was basketball. When Maelynne was 10 and Tara was 9, I signed them up for a 10U league in our city. The league director said they needed another coach and so I volunteered. My girls had never played basketball and so I gave them a crash course on our driveway. We didn't have a basketball hoop and so it was all about ball handling and passing. On occasion, we'd go to the park and shoot.

I gave our team the name, "HUSTLE." I wanted to impress upon the girls that basketball skills may be lacking a bit but that everyone had the ability to hustle. 

We went undefeated in league and advanced to the City of Lakewood play-offs. We won the first round which put us into the city championship game. The girls and I went and "scouted" our opponents as they played in the other semifinal. Yeah... maybe we took it a tad too serious.

The local access cable channel aired the championship game, complete with a play by play announcer and a color commentator. The coach of our opponents was a young, black man, decked out in a full suit and sunglasses. The announcers said his name was Jazzy Jackson. Me? Jeans and a t-shirt. Obviously, Jazzy won the "Coach with the Best Attire" award. But we won the game, 48-2. Yeah... you read that right. I guess the scouting of our opponents really paid off... lol. We were the Lakewood City Champions!

Bobby Hurley

We had the VHS game tape for a long time and would watch it every once in awhile for laughs. The announcer referred to Tara as the "Bobby Hurley" of the Hustle. Hurley was the famed point guard of the Duke Blue Devils in the early 1990's. They also commented on Maelynne's tenacious defense. 

HEALTH

Shortly after turning 31 years of age, I had started to notice that, on occasion, my heart would skip a beat. It concerned me a bit and so I made an appointment with a cardiologist, who then scheduled me for an echocardiogram. 

After the echo, I waited in a room for the doctor to explain the results. His explanation was very brief. "You have mitral valve prolapse. Your mitral valve doesn't always seal shut and the blood will regurgitate back into the chamber from which it came." That was it... and he was off to lunch.

I was dumbfounded... and scared to death. I was totally ignorant about this condition. Never heard of it... but it sure sounded serious! I asked the nurse what that all meant and she simply handed me a cartoonish little booklet to read.

How long did I have to live? That was my question. I grew greatly confused and depressed.

Hank Gathers

Not long after that diagnosis, in March of 1990, I went to a restaurant on my lunchbreak and grabbed a newspaper. The headline announced the death of Hank Gathers, a young, college basketball player for Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. It turns out that Gathers had a heart issue that left him dead, on the court during a game.

Seeing that headline with a photo of the deceased young man about did me in. I just knew I was next.

I found another cardiologist, one with a better bedside manner and asked him to review my case. He assured me that my condition wasn't life threatening and didn't put me at a higher risk for a heart attack. I remember him saying, "You could live to 105 with MVP."

I walked away from that appointment feeling better... until the next time I started feeling a fluttering in my chest. I ended up making an appointment with that cardiologist several times that year... just to hear his soothing voice, assuring me that I was fine, urging me to live my life without the fear that had paralyzed me.

As the fear of MVP began to subside, so did most of the symptoms that had alerted me in the first place. Unfortunately, some of the depression and anxiety lingered. Not only that, but other health issues... not having to do with the heart... would blossom into the conclusion that I had cancer or some other serious malady. I cannot tell you how many times between the ages of 31 to about 50... where I was convinced that the grim reaper was on my doorstep. I just knew that I was going to die young. Those bouts led to periods of a miserable existence. 

To be continued...