Albert Onolonuse Fights Like Nobody’s Business.

There is nothing like being in the room when a live boxing match is taking place.  Tonight, I saw in the flesh my first pro boxing fights.  I must say, I wasn’t disappointed.  

The events took place at the Bowness Community Center in Calgary, Alberta.  The night started with some amateur bouts.  Gwyn Lewis represented Bowmount Boxing in true Gwyn fashion…with a win.  Coach Jesse Bartlett of Legacy Boxing was very enthusiastic having his fighters stepping into the ring from the blue corner and stepping out of the ring victorious.      The amateur fights did what they were supposed to do.  They entertained the audience, and they got us warmed up for the professional fights.   

The closer it got to the NCC Title Fight between Albert Onolonuse and  Michael Walchuk, the warmer it became in the room.  The atmosphere was thick with the heat from a packed room, and the excitement of crowd.    By the time Coach Doug Harder let his camo clad team to the ring, I absolutely couldn’t sit still.  I became absorbed in everything that was happening, and I became the loudest girl in the room.   As Albert was stepping through the ropes, I was giving my husband a play by play.  ” Wait til he  takes his shirt off, you won’t believe how well conditioned he is.”  And from where I was sitting, he was the best conditioned, most prepared fighter of the two.  Albert presented calm, cool, collected, and confident.  He already knew he didn’t have a thing to worry about.   The fight was nothing short of art.  Onolonuse was focused and never rattled.  If it were a game of poker, he had the royal flush the whole time, and his face gave nothing away.  It was amazing how Onolonuse broke through Walchuk’s guard at will, keeping the pressure on Walchuck however never appearing  pressured himself.  Onolonuse seems to have the ability to dodge punches before the crowd even see’s them coming, and counter, sending his opponents head back so fast the crowd barely see’s his attempt.   Onolonuse put Walchuck’s through 10 rounds of punishment, and kept his cool the entire time.  There was a loud gent in the audience who kept yelling to Walchuck ” you got him now, you got him rattled”.  To which my response was ” Are we watching the same fight?”  There was no rattling Onolonuse.  It never happened. The Walchuck fan was evidently delusional .  Often throughout many rounds, Albert seemed to beckon Walchuck to hit him.  Almost as if taunting him.  But cool and together the same time.  He never lost his composure.  And by not losing his composure Albert was able to take points, and keep his points, which in the end earned him the NCC Middle Weight Championship belt.  And even though it probably doesn’t matter much, he won  my respect as a  boxer.  I’ve heard boxing referred to as a beautiful science.  That being said, If I were Albert, I would change my name from “The Punisher” to “The Scientist”.  Well done Sir.  A evening I shall never forget. 

Let Them Be Little.

Its two am.  A little girl wakes up from a nightmare, terrified, cold and shaking.  She rolls herself out of bed, and tip toes across the hall to her parents bedroom.  Her Mama wraps her in her arms, and all the bad goes away.  That easily.  The child falls asleep. Let them be little.

In the morning, the nightmare forgotten, the little girl has her breakfast and goes outside to play.  She takes a flip on her bike and comes home crying.  Her Mama cleans the scrape, applies the band-aid and add’s a kiss.  All better.  Nothing to worry about. Mama took care of it.  Let them be little. 

At night, the little girl snuggles down in her fathers lap, and together they read a book.  The child spits out facts about cats, different species and the kinds she wants to own and why.  She goes over different medical conditions that can be problematic in different breeds. Siamese cats tend to be more timid.  Maine Coon Cats get big.  The child isn’t even aware she is making a decisions based on education and not impulse.  She is growing.  Her interest is growing. You want to nurture her interest.  Watch it grow. You want her to learn who she is.  Maybe the little girl will own a pet shop or become a veterinarian. But your going to be mindful.  Your going to let her be little.  

At age thirty one, I cannot imagine that I was ever little. I have however started making decisions in a better fashion.  Become less impulsive.  Become so much more aware of what is going on around me. Even more sensitive. I have two younger sisters who were born nine years after me. Both are half sisters.  At their age I already had my first daughter, very pregnant with my second.  That is almost embarrassing for me.  Who in the hell told me I could become a mother at 21?  For my sisters, I want so much more.  I don’t want them to settle for what they have, I want them to get everything they want.  I want them to travel, and learn of other cultures.  I want them to be not only book smart but street smart.  I wish for them to be experienced, strong women.  I want babies and husbands to be the furthest thing from their minds. I want them to have easy lives.  I want to keep them little.  

I always want to keep my daughters little. Its been about a week since my family said good-bye to our long time pet and companion Tigera.  She was a calico cat.  Absolutely beautiful.  My husband and I decided we thought the cat may have  a urinary tract infection and I would take her to the vet the next day.  It wasn’t until I was working and came upstairs to check on her that I found Tigera had peed on the floor.  I cleaned her up and mopped up the mess.  It was strange.  In her whole life this had never happened.  I decided my oldest daughter would never forgive me if I took the cat to the vet without her.  I honestly didn’t think my youngest was a big fan, so I gave her the option.  I went and picked them up about an hour before the appointment.  I wanted the girls to spend some time with her. Just in case   And they did.  They brushed her.  My oldest read her a story. They tucked her into her cat carrier, cat bed and all.  And we drove the five minutes to the vet.  Tigera was very calm in the car.  Also very strange for her.  Things didn’t go well at the vet.   The vet told us she had kidney failure and he couldn’t give her any quality of life.  I wanted the tests to be done.  The vet said that Tigera was very sick, and he still had to sleep at night as well. He couldn’t advise keeping her alive.  Test would be pointless.  I said Ok, I’ll take her home.  He said he would probably have to keep her over night on IV to bring her fluid levels back up, but we would come full circle very fast and be standing in that room having the same conversation in a matter of days if Tigera didn’t die having a seizure. He explained kidney failure is a very ugly death for a cat.  My oldest looked at me and said ” Mama we have to let her go”.  My oldest daughter was so much more brave than I was.  She scratched behind Tigera’s ear while he put in the needle to sedate her.  When I wanted to bail, she stayed with Tigera to the end. She even picked her up when it was over.  She was very old for a ten year old girl.  During this whole process she let me be little.  She wasn’t being little at all.   I feel like I failed her, even though the vet said he liked I allowed the girls to choose to be there or not.  My husband said we were teaching them about pet ownership, the good parts and the bad.  I badly want to keep her little.

It was this experience that brought me to the will kit section at Staples today.  Everybody’s time comes.  I wanted to get my wishes in writing.  I know that those types of wills have no legal standing if something were to happen to my husband and I at the same time.  That is not why I wanted it.  I decided I want to make a living will of sorts.  I want to get it in writing, what my final wishes are.  I don’t want my husband or children to ever have to decide to pull the plug or not.  And I would like my husband to do the same for the girls and I.  It is a dreadful conversation but an important one.  If the worst happens, the decision is already in writing and legally binding. Its certainly not a happy thought.  Reality is shit really does happen.  If it does, I want to cut my family that slack.  I want them to be able to sleep at night.  I want to let them to know I loved them enough to plan ahead, to let them be little.

Nerd Alert

Me in my ‘nerd sheek’ glasses

How Rude!

I’m really starting to question human kind in general. A lot. On friday there was a caretaker yelling at an elderly lady for sitting in the chair next to the one he told her to sit in at the bank. It was horrible and I told him so. It was an abuse of power. It takes such a big man to verbally abuse little old ladies in public. I wonder how he treats her behind closed doors? This sweet lady probably worked her whole life to retire, and then pay for the care she needs, and he thought it was ok to treat her like she wasn’t an adult let alone human. Perhaps the lady had dementia and when her family looked into her eyes they saw a shadow of her former self. Maybe they were less bright now than they were before the man she spent fifty years building a lasting life and love with took his departure from this earth before her. Maybe it’s bitter sweet for her to welcome the growing list of grandchildren without him by her side . Or maybe she’s a nasty old spinster who never got married to begin with because she was bitter with the world and life and general and no one can stand her . Either way, the point is , the elderly came before us, and their wrinkles represent the storms weathered, the children they gained and lost, the life they once knew and the lives they now know. It’s not difficult to hold a door, or smile and say hello. Soon we will all blink our eyes and we will be there too. How do we want to be treated?

For Avery

I remember that day almost two years ago
And you felt so heavy in my arms. My grief heavy in my heart.
You were born on the Fourth of July.
Gone the moment you entered the world.
You also died on the Fourth of July.
An occasion you share with your great grandfather before you.
That day was not an end of Avery but a beginning
A beginning of the grief her parents and sisters would share.
Mama cries still sometimes. It surprises her when the tears come.
Papa cries too. I’ve just never seen it done.
Now I’m over protective with your sisters
My two babies I have left
Not to leave the house without their cell phones.
I couldn’t bare it if one left.
Your second birthday is getting closer.
That means Mama and Papa fight more.
We love our baby girl so much
The one who will miss all of her milestones
We’ve put in many of your firsts without you
But those firsts, those are memory’s never made
But those are the only memories We have left.

Love you always baby girl
Mama