So I googled the meaning of the number 44, which is, as of Wednesday morning at 9:46 AM, my age. As it turns out, this number symbolizes hard work, practicality and foundation. Or something like that. So…
1. When I turned 40, I wrote a list of random thoughts and things about me and it’s a tradition I’ve continued, though as I write this now it feels very egotistical.
2. But…I’m going with it, because hey - it’s 12:53 AM on November 11th, 2020 and…welll…I don’t know…2020.
3. When I think of the number 44 I think of Hank Aaron the baseball player whom, as a bit of a baseball purist, I think still holds the true all-time home run record.
4. On paper, Barry Bonds holds the record.
5. But…steroids.
6. Which makes my childhood baseball collection worth less than a brittle stick of gum from a 1980’s baseball pack….
7. I went back to watch the video of Hank Aaron’s record-breaking home run, which he hit in April of 1974. Vin Scully, the long-time Dodger’s broadcaster called the game, and the phrase that most stuck out to me was this: “A black man is getting a standing ovation in the deep South.”
8. That was in 1974. How far we’ve come and how far we have to go.
9. Also when I think of turning 44 I can’t help but think of being 22 and how I was a hot mess for the entirety of my twenties and part of my thirties and how my forties have actually been pretty good.
10. Three cheers for being in your forties…Except my knees make awful noises when I squat.
11. My parents, who are 74 years old, have always said that age is only a number – and they are two of the most youthful people I know. So I think of them when I feel my cranky knees and grumpy lower back and remind myself that age is mostly a mindset.
12. There are very few facts that I haven’t divulged in my previous birthday emails….
13. But, to reiterate, I have a shoe problem. Ok, well I like shoes.
14. But I only have around 45 pairs of shoes, so it’s not that bad. Unless you ask my wife. So don’t ask her.
15. I love Liza Minelli and I’m proud to own it.
16. That’s Liza with a “z” not Lisa with an “s.”
17. Sing me that song and I’ll give you a protein bar – on me. Seriously.
18. Little critters like mice freak me out.
19. Every time “A League of Their Own” is on I have to watch it.
20. No, like, I HAVE to watch it.
21. That movie was filmed in Chicago and St. Louis in the summer of 1992.
22. In that same summer, I played in the softball World Series in St. Louis with my traveling softball team.
23. I never ate at a sit-down restaurant with an individual menu until I traveled with my softball team.
24. I also never really stayed in a hotel until traveling with my softball team.
25. The only vacation my family took was in 1982, when we spent an overnight at Hershey Park.
26. I don’t feel deprived – but I also didn’t really know what a vacation was, beyond summer vacation from school.
27. Speaking of sleeping in hotel rooms – there were four players to a room and so we shared a bed with teammates when I traveled with my softball team.
28. Since I had a room of my own at home, I found the situation incredibly awkward and slept on the floor instead of in the bed with my teammate.
29. As it turns out, that offended her forever, and that’s one of the challenges of playing team sports and sharing hotel rooms…She never forgave me…
30. Perhaps you regret being in my head, but I’m almost half-way into this so on we go…
31. I wear my heart on my sleeve.
32. And there are times I wish that wasn’t true.
33. But ultimately, wearing my heart on my sleeve makes me the person that I truly am.
34. Some people call me Kimmie.
35. Which is fine. But don’t EVER call me Kimberly.
36. Seriously don’t.
37. I have a Masters Degree in Sports Leadership from Northeastern University.
38. And I’m glad I have it – but I learned a lot about leadership from my Dad, who led people in the Navy, the Steel Mills, and eventually, in the prison where he worked as a corrections officer.
39. You treat everyone as people, he said. Because not everyone had the same chance as you and me.
40. I often think of the song “There But For Fortune” when thinking about my life.
41. Because truthfully, I am a woman of tremendous privilege. And there but for fortune go I.
42. Speaking of privilege, I don’t take it lightly that any of you are spending time reading this email.
43. At the end of the day and the end of my life, I hope I have contributed more than I’ve criticized.
44. While that is a tall order, that is truly the wish that informs every day of my life.
My sincerest wish for all of you reading this today is this:
May you be well.
And may you be free from suffering.