Early Activities
When I was about ten, my mother enrolled me in ballet lessons. My arches rolled over and she thought ballet would help my feet. Doctors later stated that they were surprised that ballet didn’t hurt my feet. Actually, I think the real reason that my mother wanted me to take ballet lessons was because she had taken ballet. So I took ballet for seven years. Then when I attended Whitman College for one year, it is interesting that my mother’s Russian ballet instructor still was teaching and just happened to be teaching ballet at the college. So of course, I took ballet from him for my physical education courses. He remembered my mother with fondness and tried to encourage me to go into ballet professionally. But, I wanted to get married, so wasn’t interested in a ballet career.

Actually, I gave up ballet after seven years (except for taking it in college) for tennis. I loved the sport. I would walk to the courts and practice hitting balls against the backboard for hours. If other players needed a fourth for doubles, they would ask me to join them. Eventually, a tennis coach for the Junior Whitman Cup tennis competition in the San Francisco Bay Area offered to give me free tennis lessons if I would join his team. I guess he saw my tenacity and thought I would be an asset to his team. His team always won the competition each year, and to keep up the record he often scouted for new talent. I benefitted from this generosity, and we did win the years I was on his team. I also competed in tennis tournaments, and with an excellent doubles partner, we were seeded number two in junior girls doubles in northern California. This was quite an honor. I haven’t played much tennis since my teenage years, but tennis still fascinates me.