Carolyn Cook at midcourt in the Ed Cook Gymnasium. Aurora, Missouri. December 19, 2007
One of my favorite things about going back to Missouri is catching up on all the things I've missed while I'm away. All the things around town that have changed since my last visit. Sometimes it's people, but most often it's physical structures. A couple of new things from this last trip stood out.1) A huge three-story building -- erected in the 1920s, supposedly haunted, home to many a high school history, debate and English class -- was torn down a few months ago. My sister and me, my mom and her two brothers all went to the same high school, had classes in that same building.It was weird even then, sitting in a classroom that my mom and uncles probably sat in, being taught by a teacher who was hired by my grandfather when he was principal.
But PaPa wasn't always the Top Dawg (pun intended. Aurora's mascot is the Houn' Dawg and there is a local honor given every year to Auroran who make a difference. My grandfather and father have both been recipients.). PaPa played basketball for SMSU (excuse me, MSU) back in the day. They moved to Aurora at the beginning of the 1950s. PaPa started out as a teacher and coach, doing janitorial work on the side to support the family. Then he moved up to athletic director, then principal. He made quite the impression on little old Aurora. My mom couldn't date anyone in town because they all feared going out with the principal's daughter. His took a basketball team or two to state. He coached football (not quite the position in Missouri as it is in Texas, but still...). After he died in 1989, they created a basketball tournament and scholarship in his name. A few years ago, they named a gymnasium after him. Which leads to...
2) They've added a giant "Ed Cook" signature high on one of the walls in the gym. I saw it for the first time when I was home. It's pretty cool to see his loopy, oddly familiar letters so big, announcing his very own basketball court. And it's so rewarding to get to share it with my grandmother, whom I clearly know far better than my late grandfather. Most of what I've learned about him is through my mom and GaGa. And they don't really sugar coat it, either. They loved him dearly and are so proud of him, but they were really the ones who sacrificed so that he could take care of the team, the school, the community. (I think of this when I'm hanging out with Ian. We see each other five or six times what Carolyn and Ed Cook did when they had children in the home.)
Going home and seeing members of my family affecting change on society in Aurora brings me such joy and pride. When I was in high school, there would be days when every single member of the family was in the newspaper (and not just because I worked there). My dad for city council. My mom and sister and I for some activity at school. I may still be working at a newspaper, but my presence in the community of Austin doesn't have near the impact it did on Aurora. I guess it's just one of those pillar differences between living in the city and living in the country. To be a big fish in a little pond or to be a little fish in a big pond. I've accepted that this will be one of my lifelong struggles.
December 26 marked two years since I moved to Austin, committing myself (at least, for now) to the latter. To swim along, enjoying the sights, sounds, scents of a big city. (Hey now, Aurora has 7,000 people; Austin qualifies as a big city.) Not make too many waves. Not get my picture in the paper. To anonymously shop for groceries and go out to eat. To shop at stores I've never been to. To take Julian to a park we've never seen.
But will I ever have a gymnasium with my signature on it? A scholarship in my name? A Top Dawg award? A woman as sweet as my grandma visit me every day when I'm old and have a hard time taking care of myself? My mom and dad, my grandma, even Chelsea and Kenny are key players in the game of Aurora. People notice if they go on vacation. I used to be one of those players. Now, I just go back and watch everyone taking care of their roles. I'm a spectator rather than a player. Almost seven years after I graduated high school, it still feels strange.
3 comments:
Your Papa realized he missed out on his own kids when we were little, but he tried to make up for it with his grandkids. I know he is smiling from above as he watches his grandchildren take that sense of community and making a difference. You don't realize how you make a difference with every person you meet. Part of that comes from your upbringing in smallville, Aurora, MO.
Ah, making a difference. That is truly the crux of this blog isn't it? And don't we all make a difference in some way or another? Or at least that's the hope. Not everybody can have a gymnasium named after them (or a real estate business, for that matter), but you can be kind to people. And help them when they need it. Even just doing your best to be helpful rather than hurtful as you go about your life. Maybe that is a value more impressed upon those in small towns. Or maybe not.
I wonder what those who grew up in big towns think...
I thought it was a shame that the Ed Cook tournament faltered off the way it did. I don't know that I ever bothered to ask you about his history, or how he came to have that tournament named after him. Only tournament we ever won in basketball...twice :).
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