A Family Portrait

From an early age, in our family, little else but tennis mattered.

This is the story of my life in tennis, but really my life.

I am the son of engineers. Born in California, moved to Tewksbury, Massachusetts, in my first year of life. My father wrote aerospace software. He did critical computer work on the Apollo missions, and later the Space Shuttle. All those pretty space pictures you get from the Hubble Telescope? You can thank my father.

He saved that mission and TRW hundreds of millions of dollars, by working tirelessly to salvage the way overtime and budget project. They were to give him a bonus he could retire on, yet somebody changed their mind. He got a plaque. He was already bitter by then; the snub made little difference.

My parents have no friends, never have. We never had people over for dinner, nor did they ever venture out to socialize. I’ve never seen or heard them fight. Never heard them raise their voices to each other. Never heard them say a belittling word to each other. I’ve also never seen them show affection to each other. Never seen them hold hands, kiss or hug each other….