"Those You've Known" (SPRING AWAKENING)

As we moved into the spring of 2004, I was consistently going to the Friday and Sunday open plays. I have to explain the set up for Brandeis open plays. You have two courts in the front of the gym which are regulation size courts, these are considered Court 1 and Court 2 and labeled advanced and intermediate. Then in the back of the gym are much smaller courts with lower nets, these are considered beginner courts. So when I started going obviously I went to the back courts since I was a beginner. Fridays were my quiet time in the backcourts because I really didn't associate with too many people, I just came there to play and then leave. But something different took place on Sundays where I played on the far backcourt. The same people came on Sundays and played on the same court, we showed up at 1pm and walked to that backcourt. This also included my college friend Barbara which helped me out socially. This is where I met Amy S., Peter S., Teri, Andy S., Christina Y., Sue, Rebecca, Cira, Zach, Bob S., Laura G., Paul, Mel, and many others. It turned out that that backcourt was 'our' court. It was our space and our own special time. It became a world where I met people I probably never would have met in my own job, personal world. It was the world of volleyball that had brought us together. Years later, I would talk with my friend Sue about how special that time was because we all were going through things and these people were brought into our lives at that time for a reason, to fill something we needed. It would eventually blossom into a social network that I would carry with me today.

Jump forward to last night at Brandeis, it would be the first Friday after the passing of our good friend, Cosmo. Things went as normal including me waiting in the below freezing temperatures outside handing out numbers, but I had prepared myself and completely layered so much that I was handling it okay. Ruth, Donald, and I had discussed what to do this night to honor Cosmo, so we settled on buying a volleyball that everyone could sign and then accept donations to send to Cosmo's family in his memory. Dave had reduced the rate for the evening too. So I walked to each of the courts and explained what we would be doing that evening. So after we had our warm-up time, we called all the courts on the front court and had a moment of silence and prayer by Donald. Donald's words were so perfect about Cosmo and his advice to embrace the day because tomorrow is never promised. We'll miss you Cosmo, rest in peace!