Tetherball

There is something about tetherball in the 5th grade here in Lake Dallas. It becomes more than a fun game at lunch, it becomes an obsession. Kids line up and wait their lunch break away to be able to have a chance to play tetherball. If you win the game, you continue on until you loose. I remember when Declan used to come home with bruised hands and arms, and the occasional swollen lip from a tetherball game. Then Decota started informing us on the state of the weather in terms of if the tetherball courts would be opened to play on or not. Tetherball just became a part of 5th grade everyday life with them. Yet we had no idea of how much of an obsession it would become for Cambria! As soon as she got out of school we would get the update on how many games she had won or who she had beaten that day. Her arm would often ache at night from playing so intensely. When she was at a friend's house that had a tetherball pole, she wanted to play it the whole time. She loved it so much that her friend Melissa gave her a ball and a rope for Christmas. Since we did not have a pole, and she did not want to wait for her parents to get one and figure out where to put it and how to get it up, she took it outside, climbed a tree, and hung it up in the tree tops. There was a tree in the way so when she would hit it right the other tree would hit it back. She thought it was wonderful because she did not have to have anyone in order to play, she could just play the tree. It did, however, cause a problem when others wanted to play against her, so one day daddy went out and cleared some limbs off another tree and moved it into a better location. The tree became our natural tetherball pole. When Cambria would come home after school her routine consisted of putting up her notebook, grabbing a snack, and heading straight out to the tetherball. She would practice for hours with no one but herself. She always loved it when Declan or Decota decided to go out and play with her. Her all time favorite challenges, however, were when dad would head out and play with her. I always knew when he was out there because I could hear them both laughing from inside the house. I think it became a great tension reliever for Rodney to be out there punching the ball and laughing. I think Cambria just loved to CRUSH her daddy. The teatherball became one of the best and most used gifts that anyone has ever given Cambria. Who would have known that a little yellow ball tied to a rope would become such an important part of her 5th grade year!