Today you all will be meeting my good friend, Coach A. You might know her better as GBaby's mama. That's right, she is the one who inspired one of my most popular blog posts about
thoughts on childbirth from an outsider. I think that I'd describe Coach A as a free spirit with a huge heart and an open mind who is full of forgiveness (to a fault sometimes, in my stubborn opinion) and happy with life. She's good for this Type A personality, because she's always reminding me to just go for things and not worry so much about the rules or the odds or the practical things. I need that.
With that--take it away, Coach A!
Be honest, how bad was being in labor for 36 hours, because I'm still traumatized?
You’ve heard people talk about how beautiful childbirth is and how they just love the experience. That’s crap.
{I knew it!!} I think I have a pretty high pain tolerance (shattered my hand bare handing a line drive and played the rest of the weekend with it being colors I’d never seen prior to deciding an x-ray might be a good idea, no shots for root canal or other dental work, rolled an ankle literally in half and taped it with duct tape so it would fit in a shoe to play two days later, a few gross knee surgeries, etc.) but that was just stupid pain. On a positive note, I’m told it wasn’t normal which means you shouldn’t take that one experience as how it would go for you.
{See, I don't believe that. I feel as though that is what people who have had babies must tell those of us who have not had them yet in order to repopulate the earth. I think that it may be a wicked, nasty lie.}
What was the funniest moment of that experience?
I’m more than aware that the rest of y’all were having a pretty good time throughout that whole ordeal
{What, you mean we weren't subtle about our fun??}, but there wasn’t a single thing that was funny in my mind at the time. Looking back now I can laugh, but just a little. The funniest was probably when we first got to the hospital and I put on a gown and Larissa freaked out saying, “That’s it, I’m never having kids!” before anything had happened at all.
{Ha...yea, that was about 6 minutes into it. I thought it was funny too. 36 hours later when I left the hospital swearing no boy would ever even so much as touch me again, I understood.}
Tell us about your yearly Spring Training trip.
My favorite thing to do in this world! Spring Training is my home for spring break every year. It started many years back when I was dating a girl from Phx. I absolutely fell in love that first trip and it would take something crazy for me to miss a year now. Each year is different. I’ve gone with friends, with people I’ve dated, I’ve taken my nephews, and I’ve gone alone. The whole environment draws me in. The sun, the grass, the beer, the people…I could go on and on. There’s just nothing better than spending day after day relaxing and catching a day game followed by a night game. I think what I love most about it is how raw it is. Don’t get me wrong, I love going to regular season and post-season games, but Spring Training leaves out the money and glamour and huge crowds. It’s just about the game.
What's something you constantly pray for?
The safety of my kiddos from school is a big one. I work in a very low socioeconomic neighborhood with some pretty significant gang problems. It’s unquestionably nothing like the environment in which we grew up. The kids are good hearted, strong, independent individuals who aren’t unlike kids anywhere else. They put up a pretty solid guard but once they know you truly care about them, they let you into their world. When the end of the school day comes, you can see the change on some of their faces. It’s tough to think about what many of them are walking into when they leave campus. I pray about their safety often and wait for their smiling faces to come back each morning.
{That big heart I mentioned? There it is.}
Explain your love for all things Boston.
With one exception, I love everything about Boston. It started with the Red Sox and just grew over time. As a kid I don’t remember knowing much about the east coast. My family moved around quite a bit but it was all on the western side of the country. I guess it was in college that I really became interested in the area. When I finally visited, I was in heaven. I love the history, the architecture, the layout of the city, the river, the people, the parks, the universities, and obviously the sports. I’ve been to more cities than I can think of and there is no other place that loves its sports teams like Boston does. It almost reminds me of back home when there was a high school game and everything else in town just stopped. It feels that same way but obviously on a much larger scale. One of my favorite things to do in Boston is to ride the Green Line after a Sox win. You’ve never met any of the people before and you’ll never see them again but for that ten or twenty minutes, you’re physically as close as people can be, you smell like pure alcohol, you can hardly hear because of all the laughter, and you feel like you’re with your best friends. It’s love, pure love. Oh, and the one exception is simply that it’s so far from my family. If it was half the distance that it is, there is no way I would live anywhere else.
{I've officially added Boston to my bucket list thanks to that answer.}
What's one motto you try to live by?
I have a tattoo on my back that has a quote from the book The Art of Racing in the Rain. It says, “That which we manifest is before us.” To me that’s what life is all about. Attitude. Each day is going to be whatever you make it. Of course things happen in life that are hard. The way you approach those things is what determines the amount of joy in your life.
Your family is Italian--favorite Italian dish?
I’m a really boring eater. I’ll stick with spaghetti and meatballs any day.
{Seriously? That's what I get here?}
What's your favorite memory with me?
I’m going to have to go with the drive to the hospital. I’m 100% positive that you thought I was going to have a child in your car and that wasn’t going to fit into your idea of a good time.
{Yea, okay, this is actually pretty good. 3 in the morning, my phone rings. Coach A's mom tells me that I have to go and take her to the hospital because she is in labor. She says to me, "Tiffany, she is not going to want to go. You get her there." Listen, I know better than to cross Coach A's mom. I was determined to do what I was told. I ran every red light between our houses. I ran into the house, ran around like a crazy person inside. Sped from her house to the hospital. I was seriously sure that she was going to be like one of those old, good mama cows that just lay down and spit out a calf in no time. Except it would be a baby, not a calf. And it would have been in the floor board of my car, not the pasture. Turns out, Coach A is not an easy calver. She was more like a heifer bred to a big shouldered bull and there was no chance that baby was coming in my car. Those of you who are not livestock people should probably just ignore this paragraph.}
Given the way that The Godfather and I behave (particularly together), have you had second thoughts about choosing us as godparents for your child?
Y’all are a complete disaster together
{I wanted to pretend that I was offended, but there's no way to argue that she's wrong}, but I haven’t second guessed myself regarding that choice for even a second. I thought extremely hard about who would be the best fit for Taylor and I know I chose correctly. I have some very deep reasons for the choice but a surface level summary is that the two of you have very different approaches to religion but they mesh well for influencing a young person. The Godfather’s knowledge of religion, its deeper meaning, and its history are things I’m hopeful that he will share. The way you approach religion is far different. I think you treat it as more of a way of life. You’re totally open-minded and allow for all opinions to be at the table. Your willingness to attend mass/service at a multitude of denominations and the way you treat all people proves this. The number one thing I hope T sees in you is how you wear your faith all day, every day, no matter what. He’s the black and white that puts down lines and you’re the bright colors that bring it to life. Perfect combo in my mind.
{I'm beyond flattered by this answer.}
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| Please note I was taking my job seriously. Godfather was laughing. |
What is one (or more) item(s) on your bucket list?
I know this will make you crazy but I don’t have a bucket list.
{For crying out loud, you have spent a week randomly driving a jeep up the West Coast while camping in a tent and stopping to see sea lions along the way. How do YOU of all people not have a list?} I’m extremely realistic, maybe to a fault, so when I think of something that I’d like to do, if it’s reasonable, I just do it. If it’s not reasonable, I set it free. The only thing that I can think of that might meet the conditions of being part of a bucket list is that after I retire I want to spend a full year following the Sox around the country for a full season. That’s all I have, Friend.
