The first man

I took Sweetie back to her dad's today. She was supposed to stay the week but on friday she "remembered" that she has finals monday through wednesday. sigh My little acorn is even more senile than her mommie. :)

After I dropped her off I made a phone call. The kid's first jujitsu teacher and I are friends. I've been following him on FB and it sounded like he was going through some tough times. Boy can I relate!! So I reached out and asked if I could take him out for a beer.

J is a good guy. I came to him about 10 years ago and told him how my daughter was falling down without putting her hands out to break her fall and could he teach her to fall correctly? Sure! No hesitation. I got both kids enrolled in his class and sat on the sidelines during class keeping an eye out for them. My son flourished in that class. He is built to do martial arts. My daughter, however, was and is a challenge. The most simplest of exercises seemed too complex for her. He patiently worked one on one with her for weeks until she achieved the basic skills. No small feat with her whining and fits.

Meanwhile, J had plans for me. LOL He asked me why I didn't take the adult class. Moi? I was a little surprised as I assumed my athletic days were behind me. After a few weeks of relentless nagging I gave in and joined the adult class. I felt like that kid in school that always gets picked last for teams. I was so awkward and I just flatly refused to try the essential art of sutemi (you basically throw yourself heels over head to the floor). Again J worked patiently with me. One on one for hours and hours. I was afraid to fall and more afraid to throw myself to the mat.

I can say now that I'd have choked the life out of me if I had been in his shoes. It took a few months, but I finally did the much dreaded sutemi, and it didn't kill me. As was the custom when someone accomplishes a new rank or other achievement, their peers and upper ranks do a congratulatory throw with you.

I owe a lot to J. If he had not gotten me into those classes back then, some of the things I'm going through now would have surely destroyed me. I wouldn't have learned to center myself spiritually, to focus on the goal and tune out the other stuff, to see that all scary things are scarier before you do them than after you've done them.

They say you never forget your first ..... (yeah, I'm playing on words here) but I think for sure you never forget the first man to sweep you off your feet.

We had a couple of beers, did some catching up. We discussed some of the things that were getting him down. He is handling a lot and like me, still looking for his special someone. Tonight we made a pact. If in 5 years we're both at odds with life and alone, we're going to pool our resources and find a nice small midwest town to settle down in as roommates.