top of page
TLC_GAC_circle_wht4c_Blbg.jpg
Writer's pictureNeal Hagberg

TLC Blog - A Very True Fairy Tale

Once upon a time not so very long ago, there was a village called Tennis Town, where a

group of young girls found joy in hitting a ball back and forth and forth and back and

back and forth and forth and back. The rhythm of the ball, the music on the strings,

made them happy. Like a mantra said over and over, this made them forget life’s

troubles: their fears, their private griefs, a world of uncertainty.


As they grew better and older, they saw there was a world outside of Tennis Town and

began to hit back and forth and forth and back against girls from other villages. They

found they had something very special as a group that not all groups have: an ability to

be kind to one another when things were going well and when things were not going

well.


As they grew even older, as will happen in life, one became more skilled than the other

became more skilled than the other became more skilled than the other at hitting back

and forth. They began to see the distance grow between each other in their skills.


But in a world where being the best of the best is the most important thing, a strange

thing happened with the Tennis Town girls: you could not tell who the best of the best

was, because the Tennis Town girls cheered each other on no matter who was who or

when was when.




This continued as the Tennis Town girls made their way one summer to the land of

Tennis & Life, where, as a team they would hit the ball and laugh and laugh. And sing.

Yes, sing. And when the horn blew from the top of the castle tower in the middle of the

back and forths, they would stop what they were doing, lie down on the court and look

up at the sky for one whole minute, thinking of how grateful they were for their families,

their friends, the cool breeze, the hot sun, and their dogs.


And when the horn blew after a minute they would leap up and hit the ball again as if

nothing had occurred in between. But, of course, it had, and with each Gratitude Minute

in the land of Tennis & Life, they were changed a little and could never go back to

“before” because their hearts were a tiny bit bigger than a minute ago.


And lo, it came time to journey to what was known in all the villages as the Grand Old

Best of the Best Team Tournament. They were ready. They won and won. Laughed

and laughed. And occasionally got irritated, as all people do in every land. Then they

would laugh again.



But on the bus ride to the final day of the Grand Old Best of the Best Team Tournament,

which would prove to them if they were the best team in all the land at hitting back and

forth, another strange thing happened. Amid all the tension that surrounded this day,

they began to sing. Songs they learned in Tennis & Life Land. They couldn’t all sing

like they could play tennis, but they could all sing like they meant it. So that’s what they

did.


When they finished the songs, one of the older girls said, it is time for a Gratitude

Minute. The bus fell quiet, and for a minute they thought of all the things in life they

were grateful for: their families, their friends, their teammates, the cool breeze through

the bus window and the hot sun. And, of course, their dogs. And the opportunity to just

be here with each other, the best of the best and the not best of the best, no matter

what was to come.


Then they got off the bus and played.


When one would lose, they surrounded her with love and praise for giving everything

she had and cried with her because they felt each other’s pain. When one would win,

they surrounded her with love and praise for giving everything she had because they felt

each other’s joy.


Through it all, the leaders who were the best of the best cheered mightily for the not

best of the best, and the leaders who were the not best of the best cheered full throated

for the best of the best. For in Tennis Town, every girl was a leader.


But how did it end for the girls from Tennis Town? It ended in tears. But were they tears

of happiness or disappointment? I’m not going to tell you.


Because in this fairy tale, to the teller of this tale, the most beautiful thing was watching

the best of the best serving the not best of the best. And the not best of the best

serving the best of the best. And other than receiving a lifetime supply of chocolates,

how can it get any sweeter than that?


Most fairy tales end with “The End”.


This one ends with “The Beginning”.

bottom of page