Sergeant Tony's Blog

The sound of the switchblade got my attention. I could see the blade in the dim light of the stairwell. It was the first time I’d ever had a knife pulled on me.

I was a 12 year old boy in the 7th grade and had been bullied by this bigger 15 year old 9th grader the whole school year. Just about everyday, in between fourth and fifth period, he found me on the same dark stairwell landing, in the oldest part of the school, that led to the boy’s athletic dressing room. I was going up the stairs, he was coming down them. It was the only way in or out of the dressing room leading to the outside.

I was the team captain of one of the 7th grade athletic teams and was responsible for the condition of the dressing room after practice. That meant that I was the last to leave on most days, making sure that the locker room wasn’t a mess.

The bully was a big black kid and I was a skinny white boy, barely 5 feet tall, waiting for both my voice to change and my “growth spurt” to kick in. I probably weighed 85 pounds wringing wet. On the stair landing, several days a week, he would shove me, verbally abuse me, and demand my lunch money. Some days I was able to get out of the stairwell quickly enough that I’d miss him all together. And sometimes I think he just waited for me there on the landing. Most of the time my friends from the team were already gone because they’d raced to the lunchroom to be one of the first in line. That left me alone most of the time cleaning up the locker room. If I was alone, I got jumped.

For all of those months, I never said anything to anyone about the bullying. Not to my friends. Not to my teachers or coach. And certainly not to my parents.

It was now near the end of the school year and I’d had enough of the abuse. I’d tried not to fight at school because both parties involved would be expelled. If I got expelled, I’d have the devil to pay at home and I’d be prohibited from any after school extra curricular activities. So I’d avoided fighting. And quite honestly I was afraid of the bigger older boy. But on this day, I was fed up.

When he demanded my money, for the first time I said no.

“GIVE ME YOUR $&*^#@ MONEY, YOU LITTLE %&(#^)@!!!” he yelled, as he shoved me against the wall on the narrow landing.

I tried to push past him and get away, but he shoved me back up against the wall, yelling the same profanities. And then I heard the unmistakable sound of the switchblade.

Was he really going to attack me with a knife over pocket change? He said he was going to “gut me” if I didn’t give him the money.

When I saw the knife and heard him say that, I snapped. It was my very first “aww HELL no!!” moment. I lunged out at him, full of the anger and fury built up over months of bullying. I grabbed his throat with my right hand and tried unsuccessfully to control the knife with my left hand as he backpedaled. I felt the blade slice across the top of my left arm, just as he started to fall backwards down the stairs.

I followed right behind him as he stumbled down the stairs, still on my feet and yelling obscenities of my own. He hit the bottom of the stairs and his knife slipped out of his hand and slid across the floor. Struggling on the floor on his hands and knees, he tried to crawl over to grab the knife. But as he reached for it I stomped on his right hand with all of my might as he let out a scream. And then I reached over and grabbed the knife.

There, for a split second … full of rage … I thought about doing the unthinkable. My own rage frightened me more than the he did. This was the first time I’d ever seen this side of myself.

Instead of the unthinkable, I unleashed every foul word I’d ever heard in a fit of anger that I didn’t know I was capable of and waved the knife in his face to make my point. I was pretty sure that my voice cracked and went up an octave or two as I yelled. I took the knife and ran up the stairs, leaving him in a heap on the floor.

I ran toward the lunchroom, my heart pounding out of my chest, faster than it ever had in my brief 12 years of life. A wave of nausea overcame me and I got sick to my stomach in the restroom. I threw up and then wrapped my arm in a paper towel to stop the bleeding. I went to my locker and got my jacket. I put on the jacket to hide the cut on my arm.

When I got to the lunchroom I just sat there with my friends. I ate nothing that day. I just sat there, in a trance, next to my buddies who laughed and clowned the way that 12 year old boys laugh and clown. I said nothing. I was in a daze. Somehow I stumbled through the fog of the next few hours.

I was more than a little scared when, near the end of 6th period, a student office worker brought a note to my class. The Dean of Students, Mr. Scott, wanted me in his office at once! My classmates said the usual “ewwwwww!! You’re in troubbbble!” as I gathered my books and headed downstairs to the office. My heart started beating fast again. Now what?

I was shocked to find the bully, sitting outside of Mr. Scott’s office, with his hand wrapped in a bandage and a band aide on his forehead. Sitting next to him was his mother. She was busy yelling at him under her breath and did not look happy. He glared at me as I walked past him. I knocked on Mr. Scott’s door.

I found out that my attacker had gone to the school nurse about his hand and a knife wound. In addition to his bumps and bruises from the fall, he’d apparently gotten cut too. The nurse had to notify Mr. Scott about it, who in turn called the bully’s mother.

Mr. Scott wanted to hear my side of the story. I thought it was going to be a classic stand off with both of us telling stories sympathetic to our cases and that we’d both be expelled. I told Mr. Scott the truth. Told him about the months and months of harassment and abuse, and gave him the switchblade, with the bully’s initials scratched into the cheep plastic handle.

I was pretty sure that the Dean had called my parents and that I was about to be expelled. Instead he told me to go back out into the outer office and take a seat. He called for the bully and his mother to come into his office. After a little while they came out and the bully’s mother, a big imposing black lady who had him by the upper arm and was pinching him, ordered him to apologize to me. He did. She wasn’t satisfied with his contrition. She made him say it three more times before she looked at me and said, “Son, I’m so very sorry.” And then they turned and left. Judging by their body language, she increased the pressure of that pinch on the back of his upper arm as he limped out of the office area and into the hallway.

And that was the last time I ever saw him.

My mom arrived at the school and she and I went into the office with Mr. Scott. I explained everything again. Mr. Scott apologized to my mother. I didn’t understand at the time why he did. It wasn’t his fault, I thought. I didn’t understand that the school was responsible for my safety and security.

Then he told me that I was to go home with my mother.

“Sir, am I expelled?” I asked sheepishly.

“No, Tony. See you tomorrow,” he answered. And that was that.

My parents never had a talk with me about what I should do if I were bullied and we never discussed it afterwards.

That was then, and this is now. The nature of student violence, bullying, and harassment of students by their classmates has increased and become a national concern. It’s also taken on new ways of expression since I was in school.

The nightly news is full of stories about our kids being bullied. If you’re a parent, have a talk with your young scholars today if possible. Impress upon them the absolute necessity of reporting any bullying to their teacher, coach, or school administrator and of course to you. Technology has made it possible for kids to bully one another beyond the school day and without ever shoving their victim against a wall, so that has to be discussed too.

The tragedy in almost every one of those news stories is that the bullied student never told anyone. It goes unreported until things reach a crisis situation.

Good schools are addressing the issue in school assemblies and in the classrooms and encouraging students to speak out, and that’s great. But a parent’s involvement can’t be overstated. It’s a problem in private as well as public schools. Talk to your children today. Use this newsletter if you need to as a means to open a dialog.

If Sgt. Tony could be bullied … so could your child.

———————————–

ANNIVERSARY PARTY OCTOBER 29th!

We’ll party tomorrow night, Thursday evening, at Old Venice (the cool Italian restaurant on Perkins, across the street from David Kidd). Party time is 5:30 to 8:00. Feel free to come and go or come and stay!

I’ll have some pizza available, and of course you are free to order other food and drink. Our party room is connected to the bar and easy to find!

This celebrates both our 10th and 11th year!

All are welcome! So if you’re reading this, you are welcome to come even if you’ve been in Turdville for a while!! Spouses and children are very welcome!

———————————–

SGT. TONY’S HALF MARATHON TRAINING! VENUE CHANGE!

Training for the St. Jude Half Marathon continues this Saturday, October 30 at 7 AM!

We’re back at the University of Memphis! We’ll meet in front of the parking garage on Zach Curlin (Mt. Fuji!).

We’ll be running for 1 hr 30 min, using a modified version of Jeff Galloway’s approach to training.

ALSO, Boot Campers who aren’t running the half marathon, but want to get their one hour of continuous cardio are welcome to run with us at no charge!

————————————

PERSONAL TRAINING!
I’ve got a few prime hours open during the week if you know someone looking for a trainer. I use the facilities at Christ Methodist and the hourly rates are standard for Memphis. Over-all fitness training, boot camp style workouts, strength training, sports specific conditioning and agility (tennis, soccer, basketball, etc.)
TonyLudlow@aol.com or 901-644-0145
———————————-

THE RETURN OF THE 0830 CLASS AND THE CONTINUATION OF THE 0645 CLASS!!

The 0830 Class has returned to ACTIVE DUTY status on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!

Don’t forget that there is child care available at the church for this class!

The 0645 continues to march on MWF as well!

ATTENTION 0830 CLASS MEMBERS: please remember that no cell phone usage is allowed while you drive your car on the campus. So when you pull onto the campus, no cell phones please!

——————————————–

NEW PRICING FOR FAMILIES AND COUPLES

If you’re a part of a family (usually husband and wife) that does USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, a new pricing plan goes into effect in August! Ask me about it! You’ll like it!

———————————————-

WANT TO LOSE 15 OR 20 POUNDS BY THE END OF NOVEMBER?

Take Shape For Life is the BEST weight loss program I know of. If you’d like to lose weight talk to me. This is the program I used to lose the almost 30 pounds I gained after knee surgery. Let me help you!

You can also go to www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/

——————————————-

M-16A3 WORKOUT

Next Tuesday, October 26 at 0530 will be the Mt. Fuji workout in the new gym. This workout will differ from your other M-16 workouts and I promise you’ll LOVE it!

——————————————-

TUESDAY & THURSDAY EVENING CLASS

The Tuesday and Thursday evening classes meet at St. Agnes’ track. These are cardio (walking/jogging/running) workouts and they begin at 5:45 PM.

St. Agnes is at the corner of Walnut Grove and Mendenhall.

Should the St. Agnes track be occupied or the field being used, making the track unavailable to us, we’ll go to St. Mary’s track, at Walnut Grove and Perkins.

———————————————-

CALENDAR

A calendar has been added to the official USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP website.

http://www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com/calendar.html

For you visual learners, you’ll find this an easy way to glance at the week or month and see where the workouts will be, if there’s a venue change.

—————————————————

What would you do if money were not an issue, fear were not a factor, and failure were not an option?

To your optimum health and fitness!

SEE YOU ON THE QUARTERDECK!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow

USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
Mailing address: 4888 Southern Ave., Memphis, TN 38117
Cell Phone: 901-644-0145
www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com

http://www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/esuite/home/combatchallenge/–

NEW RULES

Comedian and HBO Show host, Bill Maher, has a feature in his show called “New Rules” and so I thought I’d just steal his idea and give you some new rules of my own for this, the third week of October 2010.

New Rule: If you’re a lady and you’re at a restaurant, please excuse yourself to the ladies room to reapply your cosmetic masterpiece. No one wants to see you do that “puckering thing” into a hand held mirror, or the back of a tablespoon, while you put on another layer of lipstick. I’m trying to eat over here, OK? Thanks.

New Rule: If you’re a married professional football player, you really shouldn’t be chasing after some young airhead starlet who poses naked in Playboy. Really Bret? … dude … seriously? Here’s how it works bro. If she doesn’t take your calls, if she doesn’t return your calls, if she doesn’t answer your text messages, she’s not interested. OK? I know you professional football players aren’t used to being rejected, but friend, it happens to us all. And texting her a picture of your “little quarterback” isn’t going to change her mind. Well, that’s not true. She’ll go from thinking that you’re just a clueless guy to thinking that you’re a creepy sleazy guy … who just forfeited his right to privacy.

New Rule: Young guys, the world is NOT your spittoon. Seriously. You all don’t need to spit that much. And this goes double for you professional baseball players. Between all of your spitting and scratching, I find it hard to take you seriously as athletes. Wait. Never mind.

New Rule: Dear Aspiring Politicians, please, please, please tell me why you’re fit for the job. I don’t need to know that you go to church, can beat Cohen, shoot a shotgun, own a flannel shirt, drive a pickup truck, can talk folksy, don’t like Nancy Pelosi, or think that Obama is a Muslim from Kenya (Thank you for this one #1). Your ads full of hate, fear, distortion, and extremism embarrass me … and the fact that they don’t embarrass YOU, and that you approve of them, is frightening. Also, if you have to go on TV and say, “I’m not a witch, I’m just like you,” you might want to rethink your decision to pursue elected government service. But for the record, I have nothing against witches running for office! So you witches don’t send me no hate mail or nuthin’ dead.

New Rule: Tuck your shirt in or don’t, but tucking the shirt in just in front to show us your really cool belt buckle is … well … ignert. In or out fellas, otherwise it just looks like you’re trying too hard and not very well.

New Rule: Facial hair? I’m no fan. But if you’ve got gray hair on your head and your facial hair is gray too … man, that’s just gonna make you look … OLD AS DIRT! Shave it brother! And the “soul patch” … ? What’s that all about? It just looks like you’re lazy. “Whew … boy am I exhausted from all of this shaving … think I’ll just skip this part here under my bottom lip.”

New Rule: If you never served or don’t plan to serve, please don’t give me your views regarding “don’t ask, don’t tell.” As for me, I’ll quote an admired and respected Marine Corps combat veteran and platoon commander, “I couldn’t care less what consenting grown adults do in their personal time.” Here’s a question to ponder, if your house was on fire would you care if the firefighter was straight or not?

New Rule: Dudes, if you see your “girlfriend” kissin on some other guy and you attack the other guy … well, you’re just attackin’ the wrong one. First of all, just walk away, cuz brother, it’s over. Second, it’s not him, it’s her. The other guy doesn’t owe you anything. He didn’t tell you that he loved you. He didn’t make any commitments to you. He didn’t make any promises to you. He probably doesn’t even know you or know that you exist. So unless he was your best friend, just walk away. And if he was, in fact, your best friend, well, he WAS, in fact, your best friend. He ain’t no more. Deep six both of ‘em and move on.

New Rule: The really great thing about texting and email is that they’re quick and easy. The really horrible thing about texting and email is that they’re quick and easy. If you’ve got something pretty important or potentially hurtful to say, wait a day before you click “Send.” Tomorrow’s wisdom might temper today’s fiery message!

OK, that’s gonna do it for today’s new rules!

Be nice out there! Eat smart. Exercise HARD! Go up on your weights! Do all of the repetitions.

OK, now I’m done!

———————————–

ANNIVERSARY PARTY OCTOBER 29th!

We’ll party next Thursday evening at The Racquet Club on Sanderlin!
Details to follow!

———————————–

SGT. TONY’S HALF MARATHON TRAINING!

Training for the St. Jude Half Marathon continues this Saturday, October 23 at 7 AM is back at Shelby Farms.

We’ll be running for 2hr 10 min., using a modified version of Jeff Galloway’s approach to training.

Training is open to all. Cost for the training is $75 for members of USMC Fitness Boot Camp and $120 for non-boot campers.

ALSO, Boot Campers who aren’t running the half marathon, but want to get their one hour of continuous cardio are welcome to run with us at no charge!

————————————

PERSONAL TRAINING!

I’ve got a few prime hours open during the week if you know someone looking for a trainer. I use the facilities at Christ Methodist and the hourly rates are standard for Memphis. Over-all fitness training, boot camp style workouts, strength training, sports specific conditioning and agility (tennis, soccer, basketball, etc.)
TonyLudlow@aol.com or 901-644-0145

———————————-

THE RETURN OF THE 0830 CLASS AND THE CONTINUATION OF THE 0645 CLASS

The 0830 Class has returned to ACTIVE DUTY status on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!

Don’t forget that there is child care available at the church for this class!

The 0645 continues to march on MWF as well!

ATTENTION 0830 CLASS MEMBERS: please remember that no cell phone usage is allowed in your car on the campus. So when you pull onto the campus, no cell phones please!

——————————————–

NEW PRICING FOR FAMILIES AND COUPLES

If you’re a part of a family (usually husband and wife) that does USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, a new pricing plan goes into effect in August! Ask me about it! You’ll like it!

———————————————-

WANT TO LOSE 15 OR 20 POUNDS BY THE END OF NOVEMBER?

Take Shape For Life is the BEST weight loss program I know of. If you’d like to lose weight talk to me. This is the program I used to lose the almost 30 pounds I gained after knee surgery. Let me help you!

You can also go to www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/

——————————————-

MT. FUJI

Next Tuesday, October 26 at 0530 we’ll be doing the Mt. Fuji workout at the U of M! You’ll need your dumbbells and mat.

——————————————-

TUESDAY & THURSDAY EVENING CLASS

The Tuesday and Thursday evening classes meet at St. Agnes’ track. These are cardio (walking/jogging/running) workouts and they begin at 5:45 PM.

St. Agnes is at the corner of Walnut Grove and Mendenhall.

Should the St. Agnes track be occupied or the field being used, making the track unavailable to us, we’ll go to St. Mary’s track, at Walnut Grove and Perkins.

———————————————-

CALENDAR

A calendar has been added to the official USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP website.

http://www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com/calendar.html

For you visual learners, you’ll find this an easy way to glance at the week or month and see where the workouts will be, if there’s a venue change.

—————————————————

What would you do if money were not an issue, fear were not a factor, and failure were not an option?

To your optimum health and fitness!

SEE YOU ON THE QUARTERDECK!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow

USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
Mailing address: 4888 Southern Ave., Memphis, TN 38117
Cell Phone: 901-644-0145
www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com

http://www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/esuite/home/combatchallenge/–

(By popular request, I give this to you again.)

“I’d like some pepper for my baked potato, please,” I said to the waitress in perfect Japanese, sitting in a restaurant in Tokyo.
Japanese is a hard language to learn. I mean, REAL hard!

REAL HARD!

In fact, linguists say that it’s the most difficult language for a native English speaker to learn. And I believe them. But I learned to speak Japanese anyway … because I’m an idiot.

OK, maybe “idiot” is a little too strong.

What’s a single word description for someone who isn’t afraid to look stupid in an effort to learn something?

Whatever that word is, that’s me.

I don’t really have a great gift for language. My mediocre grades in college Latin and graduate school Greek and Hebrew will attest to my less than stellar linguistic skills. But what I lack in natural ability, I try to make up for by being stubborn and tenacious. Plus I hate hate HATE BEING stupid. Looking stupid doesn’t bother me. BEING stupid does.

I was highly motivated to learn Japanese because I was weary to death of looking AND “being” stupid. If you’ve ever traveled to a foreign country and been dependent on a translator then you know what I’m talking about.

Thing is, if you’re just a tourist for a few days it really doesn’t matter. So what, you can’t read? No big deal. You can’t speak and you have no idea what anyone is saying to you? No worries. You’re a tourist. It’s all good. You’ll be gone soon. Whatever.

But when you’re NOT a tourist it IS a problem.

The stuff that appeared in my mailbox was a complete mystery. I couldn’t really distinguish the junk mail from the important stuff. And not being able to express myself or understand what was being said to me became a huge source of discouragement and frustration. And the ringing of my home phone made me break out into a cold sweat.

Getting lost was a daily occurrence. I couldn’t read the street signs. I used The Force a lot to navigate around Tokyo.

All of this frustration fueled my determination to learn the language.
But if you aren’t willing to look a fool, you’ll never learn a foreign language.

One of my American friends in Japan was probably much smarter than me. He had, after all, a BA from Boston College and an MA from Harvard. But even though he’d lived in Japan longer than me, and was a good deal more cultured than me — he was a Boston Blue Blood — my Japanese was way better than his. He just couldn’t stomach the idea of looking foolish. I guess that’s one of the heavy burdens of being a Harvard grad. You have to be the smartest guy in the room. But when you’re from Arkansas, well, let’s just say that the intellectual expectations were fairly low.

So there I was in the restaurant. I’d lived in Japan for about three months at this point and was making my first solo trip to a restaurant without a bi-lingual Japanese friend to help. And even though I was pretty nervous, I’d successfully ordered my food and the exact thing I’d ordered had actually arrived at my table. Sweet!
And now I wanted some pepper for my baked potato.

Typically Japanese restaurants don’t have pepper on the table. You have to ask. So … I asked.

The waitress looked at me like I’d just grown a second head. But I got that a lot anyway. “hmmm?” I thought. “I guess the Japanese don’t eat much pepper and they don’t use any on baked potatoes,” I reasoned.

She stood there with a confused look on her face, so I launched into a full-blown explanation about how Americans love pepper and how all the restaurants in America have pepper on the tables. I was quite proud of my ability to explain all of this in my kindergarten level Japanese. Despite the look of bewilderment on the waitress’s face, I was pretty happy with myself.

She disappeared into the kitchen behind the swinging kitchen door to get my pepper. I waited patiently and proudly. But within a couple of minutes I heard uproarious laughter come from the kitchen.

Oops.
That can’t be good.

The kitchen door then slowly swung open just enough to reveal the waitress and the five or so Japanese kitchen staff clustered around the small door opening … just wide enough for them to get a good look at me. The waitress pointed at me … as if that was necessary, since I was the only foreigner in the place. The door slowly closed and another round of laughter erupted from the kitchen.

Great.

The waitress, fully composed and looking very professional, returned from the kitchen with the pepper. She set it down on my table, smiled, and repeated the word I’d used for “pepper” with only a slight variation. As if to say, “Here’s your PEPPER.”

I said thank you and then … as soon as she was out of range, I snuck my Japanese/English dictionary from my briefcase.

There I discovered the problem. The word that I’d used … was NOT pepper. It was something else. And the pronunciation between the word that I’d used and the word that she’d used was only slight. I mean, sliiiiiiight. If I said the two words to you, I don’t think you’d hear the difference.

What was the meaning of the word that I had used?

Well, see … the Japanese have a word that is used for, well, basically anything that comes OUT of the body.

Yep. That’s right. Think the worst and you’d be right. (It kinda rhymes with “shift.”)

I had taken great pains to tell the waitress that we Americans love “shift” on our baked potatoes. Why, we love “shift” so much that we have “shift” on the tables of our restaurants. We’re just crazy goofy for “shift!” We put “shift” on our eggs, and in our soups, and …

Oh shift.

Well, shift happens. And it usually happens when we get out of our comfort zones. My Harvard buddy was only willing to get out of his comfort zone just so much. He wasn’t willing to be foolish enough to order shift for his baked potato. And consequently his Japanese was severely limited. He couldn’t speak Japanese for shift.

Out of the comfort zone and into the spotlight where you’ll more than likely look stupid is where you’ll also probably learn something too.

I mean, I could have just as easily stayed here in America and bypassed all of that embarrassment. But there are experiences to be had and a world out there to explore that will require you to step out of that comfort zone. No one has actually died of embarrassment, so why not go for it?

And so long as you know who you are and are comfortable in your own skin, you can plunge headlong into the river of fun and new things! Who cares if you look silly or sound ridiculous? You’re still you!

And on the subject of comfort zones, you should invite your friends to join you at USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP. Some of them are just scared and nervous. You’ll have to help them get over their fears and get ‘em out of their comfort zones. And you can do it. Because you care about them. You give a shift!

———————————–

VENUE CHANGE FOR SGT. TONY’S HALF MARATHON TRAINING!

Training for the St. Jude Half Marathon continues this Saturday, October 16 at 7 AM at THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS CAMPUS!

We’ll meet in front of the parking garage on Zach Curlin (Mt. Fuji) Turn onto Zach Curlin off of Central and it is on the right just before the right hand curve.

We’ll be running for 1hr 40 min., using a modified version of Jeff Galloway’s approach to training.

Training is open to all. Cost for the training is $75 for members of USMC Fitness Boot Camp and $120 for non-boot campers.

ALSO, Boot Campers who aren’t running the half marathon, but want to get their one hour of continuous cardio are welcome to run with us at no charge!

————————————

MAKE A FACE!

Did you know that you can look younger without having a facelift? One of the things that help to keep us young looking is simple to do. Just make a face!

When you grimace while exercising, you bring rejuvenating blood through your face. You increase circulation. You tighten the muscles in your face and that works against the “hound dog” look. All of these things work toward keeping your face healthy looking.

Exercise isn’t just for your arms, legs, and shoulders. It’s also about your FACE!

But here’s the deal: You’ll have to use heavier weights. It’s time to move up!

———————————-

RACE FOR THE CURE!

Our own Teri Trotter, a breast cancer SURVIVOR, has a team —
Teri’s Trotter’s — for the Race for the Cure on October 30. You should definitely join it! Questions? Email Teri at Treenatrot@aol.com or call Teri at 901-763-1088 or 647-4018

———————————-

THE RETURN OF THE 0830 CLASS AND THE CONTINUATION OF THE 0645 CLASS

The 0830 Class has returned to ACTIVE DUTY status on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!

Don’t forget that there is child care available at the church for this class!

The 0645 continues to march on MWF as well!

——————————————–

NEW PRICING FOR FAMILIES AND COUPLES

If you’re a part of a family (usually husband and wife) that does USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP. Ask me about it! You’ll like it!

———————————————-

WANT TO LOSE 15 OR 20 POUNDS BY THE END OF NOVEMBER?

Take Shape For Life is the BEST weight loss program I know of. If you’d like to lose weight talk to me. This is the program I used to lose the almost 30 pounds I gained after knee surgery. Let me help you!

You can also go to www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/

——————————————-

BOGA on Thursday morning at CUMC @ 0530. BOGA is one half hard core boot camp fitness and one half power yoga … BO-GA!

Next Tuesday, October 19 will be the Mt. Fuji workout at the U of M at 0530!

——————————————-

TUESDAY & THURSDAY EVENING CLASS

The Tuesday and Thursday evening classes meet at St. Agnes’ track. These are cardio (walking/jogging/running) workouts and they begin at 5:45 PM.

St. Agnes is at the corner of Walnut Grove and Mendenhall.

Should the St. Agnes track be occupied or the field being used, making the track unavailable to us, we’ll go to St. Mary’s track, at Walnut Grove and Perkins.

———————————————-

CALENDAR

A calendar has been added to the official USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP website.

http://www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com/calendar.html

For you visual learners, you’ll find this an easy way to glance at the week or month and see where the workouts will be, if there’s a venue change.

—————————————————

What would you do if money were not an issue, fear were not a factor, and failure were not an option?

To your optimum health and fitness!

SEE YOU ON THE QUARTERDECK!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow

USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
Mailing address: 4888 Southern Ave., Memphis, TN 38117
Cell Phone: 901-644-0145
www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com

http://www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/esuite/home/combatchallenge/–

We met at a Christmas party.

There were about 60 people at my friend Mike’s house. She was one of the few people at the party I didn’t know. But that was about to change in a big way.

I wandered around the house — all decked out with Christmas trees and lights and boughs of holly — visiting with people who were gathered in small groups in the kitchen, dinning room, and den. This was a party made up mostly of members of my business networking group, so mingling and networking were expected.

When I walked into the den I saw her sitting on the sofa with some other friends of mine and I was immediately attracted to her. Not for the reasons you might guess. She wasn’t the “hottest” woman at the party. (By her own admission, and by her own description, she said that she was “short and sturdy,” and wanted to lose some weight.)

I was attracted to her because she was one of the most winsome people I’d ever met in my life. When I walked up to introduce myself to her, she extended her hand to me and before I could say anything she said, “And you must be Sergeant Tony. I’ve heard all about you!” And then she lit up the room with a smile that made me speechless and tongue-tied. Usually I don’t suffer for a loss of words, but I found myself mumbling and saying nonsensical gibberish. Mr. Smooth I was not.

Her smile was one of those that comes right out a spirit that is full of life and happiness. You know the kind I mean. It wasn’t simply a smile, it was a facial announcement of joy! And it wasn’t because of me that she smiled that way, this was just how she engaged everyone. It’s who she was! She met the world with a smile and an open heart! She met strangers wanting, and expecting, to like them. And that was extended to me as well!

And to say that her eyes twinkled would be a gross understatement. Her eyes were crystal clear, wide, and bright and even if she wasn’t actually smiling, her eyes would tell you in an instant that she liked you and that she wanted you to like her. But more than that, her eyes said that she was deeply in touch with everything in life that was uplifting and beautiful! And the energy she exuded was magically magnetic! You couldn’t help but be drawn to her! She was in her late 20’s when I met her and was sunshine personified!

And she had a laugh that inspired a jokester like me to keep cracking wise. You just wanted to hear her laugh over and over again! It was one of those wonderful laughs that a woman has that just makes you want to be funny.

I learned all about her life that night at the Christmas party. She told me about her business ventures, her husband, and her little boy. And I thought at once how lucky her husband Jeff was and how fortunate that little Tanner was to have a mom with so much life, joy, and beauty. She was smart, funny, pretty, and more alive than most people ever think about being!

And I was one of the lucky ones too! She and I clicked instantly and became fast friends! For the next three years she and I met two or three times a month for lunch or a trip to Starbucks to talk about business, life, and ways to be successful in life. She was a student of positive living, the laws of attraction, and of being successful in love, life, and business. She even loaned me a cool book called, “You Can’t Steal Second Base And Keep Your Foot on First.”

I had the most sincere Platonic love for her. (Although I did kiss her on the cheek once.) And I don’t think I was alone in my admiration and affection for her. Everyone loved her. You just couldn’t not love her. Everything seemed better, challenges appeared achievable, and the impossible seemed doable when she was around. She never met a stranger and she never hurt anyone’s feelings that I knew of. She loved everyone. She also loved the Titan’s, Sugarland, and TV game shows too, especially “Deal or No Deal.” And she taught me, a Japanophile, how to love sushi made the American way!

One day she called me and asked if I was available for lunch. Her voice sounded a little serious; she said that she wanted to talk to me about something. It was during lunch that day that she told me that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

The look on her face and the enormity of the words she’d just spoken seemed to take all of the air out of the room. Everything just froze. I felt myself stop breathing. The sadness and fear in her eyes broke my heart. I reached across the table and took her hand and tears started to well up in my eyes. She started to cry and I was paralyzed in silence with my heart in my throat.

She survived the breast cancer!

Then, in typical fashion, she went out and founded a charity called “Here’s To a Sweet Recovery.” Her charity sends cookies to women recovering from breast cancer surgery. In the package with the cookies, she included literature explaining the different breast reconstruction options available to women. She sent sweetness to people she never even met, but with whom she shared an experience and a bond. And the network of people who loved her multiplied with every package she sent. Letters of thanks and praise from these ladies and their families started pouring in, along with donations!

Two months before her charity would celebrate its two-year anniversary, she was diagnosed with cancer again. It was an aggressive and terrible brain cancer. It was the cruelest, most unforgivable, and most horrifying thing imaginable. Senseless and beyond reason.

The last time I saw my sweet friend was in the hospital when I leaned over her hospital bed and kissed her on the cheek, caressed the side of her face, and whispered into her ear that I loved her.

Tommi Simcox died on July 19, 2008.
She was only 34 years old.
And everyone who knew her felt the world less warm and everything less bright.

This October 30 is the Race for the Cure 5K, a race and a cause that was near and dear to Tommi and to our own Teri Trotter. Teri is one of my awesome 8:30 class assistant instructors and a breast cancer survivor! All of the wonderful things I’ve told you about Tommi most assuredly describes Teri as well!

Teri has a Race for the Cure team called “Teri’s Trotters!” (Pretty clever, Teri!) There’s some information about the race below. I hope you’ll consider joining Teri’s team or making a donation to the cause in honor of Teri and Tommi and all of those we know who’ve been touched by this horrible disease.

We all know a Tommi and a Teri. We’ve all been affected by the loss of someone dear like Tommi. And we’ve also rejoiced in the recovery of someone awesome like Teri. So give! Run! Support the cause!

Go pink everyone!

Let’s see breast cancer cured, once and for all, in the lifetime of the women we love!

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RACE FOR THE CURE!

Teri Trotter, a breast cancer SURVIVOR, has a team —
Teri’s Trotter’s — for the Race for the Cure on October 30. You should definitely join it! Questions? Email Teri at Treenatrot@aol.com or call Teri at 901-763-1088 or 647-4018

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THE RETURN OF THE 0830 CLASS AND THE CONTINUATION OF THE 0645 CLASS

The 0830 Class has returned to ACTIVE DUTY status on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!

Don’t forget that there is child care available at the church for this class!

The 0645 continues to march on MWF as well!

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SGT. TONY’S HALF MARATHON TRAINING!

Training for the St. Jude Half Marathon continues this Saturday, October 9 at 7 AM. We’ll meet in front of the Visitor’s Center at Shelby Farms. The Visitor’s Center is the building on the hill just above Patriot Lake and visible from the intersection of Walnut Grove and Farm Road.

We’ll be running for 2 hours, using a modified version of Jeff Galloway’s approach to training. Be sure and bring your water, sports drink, and energy bar type food.

Training is open to all. Cost for the training is $75 for members of USMC Fitness Boot Camp and $120 for non-boot campers.

ALSO, Boot Campers who aren’t running the half marathon, but want to get their one hour of continuous cardio are welcome to run with us at no charge!

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NEW PRICING FOR FAMILIES AND COUPLES

If you’re a part of a family (usually husband and wife) that does USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, a new pricing plan goes into effect in August! Ask me about it! You’ll like it!

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WANT TO LOSE 15 OR 20 POUNDS BY THE END OF NOVEMBER?

Take Shape For Life is the BEST weight loss program I know of. If you’d like to lose weight talk to me. This is the program I used to lose the almost 30 pounds I gained after knee surgery. Let me help you!

You can also go to www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/

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BOGA on Thursday morning at CUMC @ 0530. BOGA is one half hard core boot camp fitness and one half power yoga … BO-GA! I’ve been having my best, and fastest, evening run on Thursday and I think it’s because of doing BOGA on Thursday mornings!

Next Tuesday, October 12 will be the M-16A2 workout in the gym at the church!

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TUESDAY & THURSDAY EVENING CLASS

The Tuesday and Thursday evening classes meet at St. Agnes’ track. These are cardio (walking/jogging/running) workouts and they begin at 5:45 PM.

St. Agnes is at the corner of Walnut Grove and Mendenhall.

Should the St. Agnes track be occupied or the field being used, making the track unavailable to us, we’ll go to St. Mary’s track, at Walnut Grove and Perkins.

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CALENDAR

A calendar has been added to the official USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP website.

http://www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com/calendar.html

For you visual learners, you’ll find this an easy way to glance at the week or month and see where the workouts will be, if there’s a venue change.

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What would you do if money was not an issue, fear was not a factor, and failure was not an option?

To your optimum health and fitness!

SEE YOU ON THE QUARTERDECK!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow

USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
Mailing address: 4888 Southern Ave., Memphis, TN 38117
Cell Phone: 901-644-0145
www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com

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