March 08, 2006
Me, My Dad, and Sugar Ray
I mentioned my encounter with Sugar Ray Leonard the other day and here is the photograph to prove it (Thanks, Ken). It was taken with Ken's "fancy to me" Treo camera phone. I am surprised by the relatively high resolution of this photo.
When I think of Sugar Ray Leonard, I actually often think of my family, especially my dad. You see, back when Leonard was at his peak, I was around 10 years old and we had just moved into a newly constructed home in a fancy upwardly mobile development. Like the Jeffersons, we were moving on up.
My father's English was still not very good back then and I was at an age when I began to feel embarrassed about being Korean. I simply wanted to fit in with my all-White peers and speaking Korean did not help matters. It also did not help to be Korean and to have an all-Korean family (but that is another story). So, around then, I gradually began to stop speaking Korean to my parents. I think it was around then that I also felt a growing distance between my father and me. It was not dramatic and not necessarily problematic. It was just the sort of distance that accompanies adolescence for many kids. Looking back, it is obvious now that the language gap between us only exacerbated matters.
This is where Sugar Ray comes into the picture. Sugar Ray Leonard was one of the kings of boxing back in the early 1980s. My father loved watching boxing on ABC and I too loved the sport (and still do). It was here in front of the television that I was able to stay connected with my father. Together, alongside my brother and grandmother (who loved all thing violent, especially professional wrestling), we watched replays of the big fights between Leonard and his foes, such as Roberto Duran, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, and Thomas Hitman Hearns. The action was exciting. The emotions real. No English needed to be spoken when you saw a devastating left hook or straight right to the chin. A knockdown and a comeback victory were gut wrenching and thrilling moments that captured life at its fullest.
I love those memories (and maybe partly why I still love television -- hehe) because it was a way for my dad and me to stay connected. We were growing apart culturally and emotionally but this shared love helped to keep our bond. I don't want to romanticize the power of boxing but it is an example of how a shared activity can do wonders for a little boy and his father.
So, for this reason, I need to thank Sugar Ray Leonard.
Posted by richlee at March 8, 2006 02:17 PM