Visitor: Mrinalini Vijalapuram
Time: May 22, 2006 11:20 AM
Hi,
I only knew Shoshana from band. She sat by me everyday, we played the same instrument. She was a very nice girl. I'm in the 8th grade and she was in the 7th, so i didnt have any classes with her except for band. I know i didnt know her much, and that there are people at our school that were very close to her, but as i got to know her as the year progressed, we developed a friendship. She was humourous girl, and an avid reader. Whenever she could she would pull out a book and read, and as i know it she was a really good soccer player. I know that no one will ever forget Shoshana.
Visitor: Steven Weintraub
Time: May 23, 2006 2:55 PM
The following is a series of favorite soccer memories told by Shoshana's father.
Aaron mentioned two memories that stick out in his mind.
It was late in the game and the score was frustratedly tied at 0-0. Shoshana was playing center mid and you could see she was getting more and more flustered as the situation wore on. If she was a tea kettle you'd think she was about to blow her lid. When the ball was away from her, her hands were on her hips, elbows akimbo, and she was starting to stamp her feet.
Finally a small fight for the ball broke out with three players at the center line right in front of her. Shoshana was usually disciplined enough to wait outside these and see if the ball bounced out, but in this case her frustration got the better of her. She rammed into the group, came out with the ball and broke away with it and outraced the defenders - scoring the goal.
Aaron's second memory is just a typical defensive move. Coming up the center of the field with the ball, Shoshana look both right and left and noticed two large girls angling in on her. Just as the two girls were about to catch her, as smile appears on Shoshanna's face, she puts on a burst of speed and the two girls collide right behind her.
Steven's Favorite soccer memory.
A few years ago Shoshana's soccer team went all the way to state. The tournament was a cold December weekend in San Antonio. A flood of memories come to me about that weekend; a bevy of girls crowding into the whirlpool at the hotel, a parent commenting that morning "It must be cold - Shoshana is wearing warm-ups" (The temperature was in the upper 20's).
But the memory that I most remember is in the last game. The opponent was very playing very dirty. They purposely grabbed jerseys and tripped. Our team was still winning easily and it was late in the second half. I was standing with Tricia when I saw it. Shoshana was advancing up the far side line with the ball with the defender hot on her heals. Suddenly between kicks Shoshana's leg swings out and knocks down the opposing player. I turned to Tricia and said.
"I didn't just see that!"
"See What?"
"Shoshana just tripped that player"
"Oh Shoshana would never do that. She wouldn't ever play that dirty."
Mollified I continued to watch the game. After the game I was following about 15 feet behind Shoshana and Laura. When I heard Shoshana say, "Did you see me trip that girl?" The two of them proceeded to laugh about it and several other things. The full story was that neither of them going to play unfair - but they didn't want to take the brunt of the other teams dirt. In the play in question, the opponent reached her foot out to trip Shoshana. Seeing that the attempt made her opponent unbalanced, mid-stride Shoshana whipped her free leg out and knocked out the lone supporting leg of her opponent. It was actually a well-executed - though slightly dirty payback.
Tina's Favorite soccer memory.
Tina has many good memories of our daughter's play. So many she couldn't pin one specific one down. But she did remember how Shoshana would be come incensed when the other side wouldn't "play by the rule." Shoshana had an innate sense of where she thought you could play to, and anyone who played outside that was just a dirty player. Even more she couldn't understand how people could take it so seriously - it was just a game (belying the fact she could come home in tears if her team lost). Tina remembers an example of this.
The week before she died Shoshana's team faced a good game. The opposing team was up 3-0 with about 15 minutes left. Our team made a tremendous rally and won the game 4-3. Shoshana was not part of the rally (she was playing goalie at the time) but was jumping and hooting with the rest of the team. The girls circled up and laughed. All the sudden one of the opposing players angrily kicked a ball into our team's circle hitting one of our players in the face. Shoshana was incensed and complained about that nastiness to whoever would listen for the next days.
This story was told to us by the mother of one of Shoshana's teammates. We were waiting for it to be typed in. Please type in all the stories you tell to us
Two weeks before Shoshana died, she was playing goalie. While playing, the opposition made a break for the goal and another of Shoshana's teammates block the shot and it went out of bounds (for a corner kick). The opponent called Shosha's teammate a name (we weren't told what it was) for blocking the ball. Shoshana turned to the name caller and said, "I'm sorry - I don't think I heard that." The girl replied, "I'm sure you heard it quite well." To which Shosha demanded, "You Must apologize right away!" The mother then said she asked her daughter, "So what happened?" The daughter replied, "The girl apologized."
Tina and I like this story for several reasons. First it describes my daughter well. But even more it shows what she learned from us. When I hear someone say something rude, I often say, "I'm sorry - I don't think I heard that." It's disarming, and makes the person either has to admit they were rude, or lie or be embarrassed. Tina on the other hand often had to say to Shoshana, "You Must apologize right away!" and Shoshana would. So Shoshana took lessons from both of us and applied them in her own unique way.
Shoshana was actually turning into a very good goalie. She had reasonably quick reflexes and was getting better and better at saving. Her strength was her serving out of the box. She had the strength and control of her kicks to serve it past mid-field to specific targets and she had her mind into the game to the extent that she usually made good choices in positioning herself and what was the best place to serve out to.
In each game, Shoshana often started cold and lack-luster as a goalie. But once an opponent scored on her or had made a significant threat to, she would get into a higher gear and become tenacious.
Of course she wasn't always a good goalie. The first time she was put in as goalie, her team was up in the second half by 5-0. The ball was almost completely in the opponents half of the field and the goalie was a lonely position. Slowly Shoshana started taking a few steps forward again and again till in a few minutes she was about 15 feet behind the center line.
Suddenly the opponents get the ball and make a breakaway. Completely out of position, Shoshana raced back to the goal fast enough to break up the unguarded shot. She never made that mistake again
The next game Shoshana was put in for a half. She didn't fair well. She allowed three goals and came home crying. She NEVER wanted to play goalie again. Eventually she calmed down. She decided to bear it out, and was steadily improving in the role when she died.
In the fall of her 5th grade season came Shoshana's worst injury. The team was playing a tough undefeated team. Shoshana wanted to prove she could play up tough. 10 minutes into the game she got into a melee with an opponent and in the pushing fell flat on her wrist (it was clean - there was no foul).
When Shoshana didn't bounce back up, Tina and I knew she was injured. Shoshana was not one to nurse injuries. The coaches came out to her while we stood on the edge of the field. After two minutes, Coach Ray signaled us come onto the field. I took one look at the wrist and could tell it was broken - snapped cleanly in two.
As the ideas swirled in my head about the actions to take, I heard Ray say calmly, "You'd better get the car." I turned, ran to the sideline, told David to please pack up our stuff, and then ran to our car. Tina meanwhile stayed with Shoshana and discussed with Joan and the Coaches what to do next.
I drove to the field and saw another car about to take the last spot. I jumped out and tapped on the window, explaining my daughter had just broken her arm and I needed the spot. We got everything into the car and Shoshana. We then debated what to do next.
Joan has suggested taking her to the Heart Hospital (less crowded and a full ER). We drove there and I carried Shoshana in. While they we're fully equipped, it was still the best choice. There was no wait (as there would be at the Brackenridge Children's hospital) and we were able to get Shoshana pain medication and x-rayed before they sent us to Brack.
We got to Brack and we had a long wait before the Doctor could see Shoshana. Luckily a friend's of Aaron's mother was able to pick Aaron up so he didn't have to wait with us. The pain meds were still kicking in so she was only moderately uncomfortable and was able to discuss with the nurse Oxford (the nurse can from Oxford, England). The doctor came in and took one look at the X-Ray and said, "That doesn't look good" (so much for bedside manners - good thing Shosha was doped up enough not to notice). They rolled her into X-ray again where the X-ray tech and Shosha laughed and discussed all his broken bones from soccer. Finally they rolled Shoshana into an operating room, put her under anesthesia and reduced her arm.
Shoshana missed the rest of the season playing, but went to all the games and sat with the team. Her arm healed just in time for the tournaments and to go to San Antonio.
Visitor: Alice Frenk
Time: May 24, 2006 2:20 AM
Steven and Tina,
I don't know what else to say to you other than I'm very sorry about your loss. I simply can't imagine the pain that you are having to endure. You asked to give remembrances of Shoshana, so here goes. I remember our family sitting next to your family at the Hanukah celebration at Kol Halev about two years ago. My son Peter Simmons is a year older than Shoshana and knew her through the B'nai Mitzvah program. I saw him looking at Shoshana at the Hanukah party, and later on that night he told me he thought she was very pretty. I asked if he had talked to her, but he said he was too scared to talk to her. I, also, think she was very pretty.
Regards,
Alice