For starters, am I Canadian? Am I from Minnesota or Wisconsin? What is that accent! I was born and raised in Minnesota.
I had a great childhood that only included a few traumatic moments, mainly from my high energy and stubborn ways. My brother loves to tell people that he chopped my finger off in a door. Well, it was close, and my earliest childhood memory is chasing my brother in our Underoos (I believe he was Superman and I was likely Wonder Woman). A quick chase around the house, he ran into his room and slammed the door as I tried to stop it. A quick trip to the ER and my finger was sewn back on.
Now that I have your attention, and you have Googled Underoos, let's get to the main story. I am pretty sure I came out at birth with a baseball or basketball in my hand. I loved every ball sport from day one. Barbies? No thank you. We will save that for days we are in the basement due to a tornado warning and the only thing on TV are the Smurfs.
Growing up my dad was always playing some sport. He was on a softball team or a hockey team and both of my parents enjoyed bowling. My dad would bring
home the bag of bats and balls and at an early age I had a baseball glove on and loved playing catch. I believe my first physics lesson was at the age of 5 or 6, when I chose a tee as my purchase to get good at hitting the ball. I would raise the tee up and down, trying to find the exact height that I could hit the ball the furthest. I loved tee ball even though by week 2 of the season I would be the only girl still on the team. I did not care. I was where I wanted to be, even if the boys and their parents weren’t happy about it.
home the bag of bats and balls and at an early age I had a baseball glove on and loved playing catch. I believe my first physics lesson was at the age of 5 or 6, when I chose a tee as my purchase to get good at hitting the ball. I would raise the tee up and down, trying to find the exact height that I could hit the ball the furthest. I loved tee ball even though by week 2 of the season I would be the only girl still on the team. I did not care. I was where I wanted to be, even if the boys and their parents weren’t happy about it.
Next up, the move that changed my life! Stay tuned. -- Tara Ransdell