Tennis Royalty

Carrie came into our “little store” back in February.

She fell in love with a berry colored handmade hat. As someone who doesn’t makes snap decisions, she left without the hat to think about it.

Well think about it she did and back into our store she came 2 more times before she was ready to purchase.

Carrie loved this color of this felt and insisted I had nothing else in color that came close. The caveat was I only had one single felt and it had been made into a hat that was too small for her.

We took her measurements, I deconstructed the hat she loved so much, reblocked it up by two sizes, reshaped the brim & toned down the feather trim for her.

I probably had 6 or 7 different engagements with Carrie never knowing much about her. It wasn’t until the final interaction she told me she was a former pro tennis player.

My mouth hit the ground. Growing up I had always thought I would be a pro athlete.

Carolyn Meyer Richardson was ranked 14th in the world during her career. She turned pro in 1974 and over her career played at Wimbledon, the US open, the French open, US clay court open, and won the Scottish championships singles title in 1978. She went on to coach women’s tennis at Purdue University and in 1985 was in charge of the United States Junior Federation Cup team.

I saw before me a woman who defied social norms of her time, experienced public wins & losses, professional highs & lows, lived through title 9 and witnessed its effect on young female athletes. I saw a pioneer for women’s sports, I saw a woman I looked up to.

Standing next to her as she shyly shared her pro-athlete stories with me I knew I was in the company of greatness and I knew I almost missed out on her story.