Phil's Turn

Not much has happened since my last post 7 weeks ago.  Phil and I took a long weekend trip to Little Rock in mid July.  My parents are buried there, and it's important to me to try to go to the church at least once a year to visit their grave site. It brings me peace and comfort. We enjoy staying with our close friends, Steve and Sharon, in their beautiful home...it's like a 5 star resort!  I was also able to spend some quality time with my oldest and dearest friend, Melissa. In fact, I'm going back to Little Rock Labor Day weekend to help her unpack and get settled into the new home she and her Mom just moved into. Phil and I took a side trip to Fayetteville for an overnight stay.  Phil had not been back to Fayetteville since he graduated 38 years ago, and I had only been back once in 28 years.  We were both blown away by all the changes!  It looked the same, only different...meaning parts of the campus and town were recognizable (dorms, fraternity houses, certain academic buildings) but so much was different (first rate athletic facilities, tons of new building additions) We had lunch and dinner with some of Phil's teammates and tennis coach who still live in Fayetteville. We even found Phil's name in the sidewalk, to prove he had graduated! The U of A stamps, in the sidewalks, the names of each graduate from every class. Right there, in the class of '74, was "PHIL LANDAUER"!  My name is with the class of '85.  Unfortunately, the area where my name is stamped, was in a construction zone and covered up.  If I hadn't seen it on my last trip to Fayetteville, in the early '90's, I wouldn't have believed I'd ever graduated!   It was just a fun, relaxing, purposeful weekend.

Phil's Name in the "Senior Walk" at the University of Arkansas:

Since we returned from Denver in mid June, I have not hit a ball.  My wrist has really been hurting me.  I laid off about 3 weeks hoping it would heal on its own.  I finally had an MRI, which showed nothing. Dr.Carniero was at least hoping to find an occult ganglion cyst, to account for my pain, but nothing showed.  Because the pain is on top of my wrist, and at the impact of a ball, especially on my backhand, it's quite puzzling.  I had a cortisone shot a couple of days ago, and it seems to have helped.  I will try hitting again this coming week. 

Phil, in the meantime, has been a hitting, playing, training machine! He has three nationals in succession in August, September and October. He's turned on the competitive switch, and for the past seven weeks has revamped his diet (we both have), lost weight (we both have), and been playing and working out with a variety of players in the area.  He is in Asheville, NC right now, playing an intersectional event.  Florida, Southern, Texas and Midwest are the four sections represented.  Today will be his first match, as Florida is playing Texas first round.  He'll play both singles and doubles all weekend in the round robin format, getting some great tennis in.  This event is a good warm up before he goes to Boise in mid August for the national indoors.  I'll be reporting his results from Asheville this weekend.

My next scheduled event is not until October, the national clay courts in West Palm Beach. I hope to be back in top form by then...or at least pain free!