UCCA and University City News welcome Ernie McCray as a regular contributor.
I just found a picture of my departed, Nancy, and me and our girls, Tawny and Nyla, sitting on a diving board. It was taken around 1981 at the old Jewish Community Center on 54th Street.
It reminds me that I’ve had a connection to University City before joining this community – as when the center moved we brought our family membership to the new JCC in UC.
I was still an active athlete back in the old JCC days. Played in the basketball and volleyball leagues and swam a few laps in the pool in my un- smooth, non-Michael- Phelps-like style. Our little girls were members of the center’s swim team. We loved that pool; we thought of it as the epitome of pools, until we first set eyes on the amazing water facilities at the digs on Executive Drive.
After a while I let my part of the membership go because I didn’t compete anymore and the little swimming I did wasn’t worth the drive from Golden Hill. But Nancy, a woman who swam like a fish for miles, each week, in both pools and in the sea, enjoyed her time in the waters of the JCC in UC – she swam laps there until she passed away in the summer of 2009.
I can see her moving through the water in a number of strokes, so smooth. Such sweet memories make University City even more special to me. I’m liking it more and more each day.
Ernie McCray served San Diego City Schools for 37 years as a teacher, vice-principal and principal of schools from elementary through secondary. Ernie still works with children in the areas of drama and creative writing and movement. He’s an actor, writer, and peace activist (and newer University City resident) who rises everyday to do all that he can to make the world a better place. With no apologies.
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