Franklin Starnes

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Stacey Darling 9th Annual Charity Classic

4.5 Reunion

One match that stood out to me during this tournament did so not because of the stellar play but because of the spirit in which it was played. The participants, Franklin Starnes and his son Franklin Starnes, when asked who they were going to play told me they had no idea. It was 15 minutes before their match and they had not checked the draw yet. They were not focused on that, or concerned. And at the end when they had lost their first match 6-3, 6-3 they still had the grins on their faces I had seen prior to playing. "We gained their respect", the son is quoted as saying and the father commenting on how it went well. They lost 6-3, 6-3. It was if they had said, "I am here to spend time with my son and that is the joy of it." and "I am here to spend time with my father and this is everything to me" They never said those words but each time I saw them together at the party, before and after their match,  that is what I heard. "I am here with my Dad." the young Franklin 'spoke with his proud gestures of grabbing his father to pose for pictures. The young man looked like he was twelve to me, once again proud and wanting to be around his father, perhaps the same father who, in the past he would blow off for his friends. It was not about the tennis. There is always something more significant there. All one has to do is open themselves up to experience it.