THE MEMORABLE GAME

It is like I am there once again!
The biggest event in my soccer career!
I can still feel the breeze whistle trough the tall trees. I can still feel that scorching sun in that fateful afternoon. I can hear my name being mentioned in the radio by Mike Centeno, the sport broadcaster in charge of narrating the game.
I have to take you back so you can understand all my excitement.
In those days I was a 15 year old boy living in the city of Usulutan in the east part of the country. My aunt and my uncle were taking care of me. He was such a sport buff, all I know about sports I owe it to him. By that time it was common to have juvenile soccer tournaments among the several communities within the city, and my uncle was in charge of one of those teams, of course.
He had gone to many commercial Establishments asking for sponsorship so we could buy the uniforms in exchange for displaying the name of the business in our jerseys.
He was involved in the board which control those tournaments; even he got in touch with the local radio so the schedules could be announced in the sport programs.
My uncle is a witty man but also he posses a quick temper. I used to come along to the board meetings with him. Once, we were there and when he was trying to write down the schedules for the following matches in that weekend, the president of the board read them so fast that he couldn't write them all down. So, very politely he asked the president to repeat them. The man replied very harshly that he had read them once and he was not going to repeat them again.
I remember what happened next very vividly. My uncle stood up in front of everybody, like ten or fifteen men around the table, and he shouted to that man:
"You can grab that piece of paper, make it a roll, and shove it in your ass!"
All I can say is that he was banned from those meetings since that time.
To make a team takes a lot of preparation and tryouts. Many kids wanted to be part of the team, but you have to be invited and then play to show that you are worth to be selected after. We went to many places to play and get ready, and I came to all those games, of course my uncle was in charge and I got to play every time in many positions including goalie.
The teams in the "A League", the professional teams from the different provinces, had established that as a pregame or preliminary game before the big boys start playing, it was to be a game between juvenile teams. Our team was selected to play in one of those occasions. We were so excited because we were going to have the opportunity not only to play in the big stadium but also the game was going to be broadcast in the radio.
Now let's get back at that precise moment when my name was announced in the radio.
I was coming in as a replacement during the first half and the announcer said:
"Now, with the number 12, coming into the game is Jose Avalos."
I was there! sitting in one of the bleachers, watching another kid using my name.
What happened was that I never made the team, even though my uncle was the owner of the team. What he did was to use my birth certificate to register another boy who was way pass the age limit, so he could play in the team instead.

THE END

I LEARNED SOMETHING NEW TODAY

I learned something new today,
That life is a continuous journey
And we can not stop idling on the way
For we could be left behind.

I realized life is not my wish today,
But a series of tryouts and rehearsals
With all the bumps and stumbles galore
That make us cry and laugh along the way.

I grew up a bit more today
When contemplating my own existence
Came to the irremediable conclusion
That we do or undo our own history.

I looked at myself today
And found out there is no road to travel
Only the path left behind
Which we will never step on again....