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MuNk22 · 12-27-2024, 05:18 PM

MADISON, Wis – The tune of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Frank Sinatra is crackling over an AM radio next to a fireplace crackling in a similar manner. The house is primarily heated by delicious food being cooked in the kitchen and the body heat of Leonard Wood's family members. The flickering of candles and Christmas lights reflect upon a frosty window as the sun sets on Christmas Day.

Leonard Wood is back home in Madison for the holidays before the Forge have to travel to the nearby twin cities to take on the Monarchs after the New Year. It's where he's taking a breather from his busy professional career to catch up with family and friends, and fill his belly with a wholesome Christmas meal.

ON HOCKEY

Our reporters caught up with him during his break from hockey at Wood's Tavern, his family's bar in Madison.

“It's been such a busy year with many ups and downs. I'm happy to take a step back and reflect a little bit,” Leonard explained as he sipped an I.P.A. at the bar.

The crushing defeat at the hands of the San Francisco Pride in the Challenge Cup Finals is still at the top of his mind.

“Honestly, they were such a great team. We were just outmatched the entire time. But I'm super proud of this squad and how far they got. When I join back up with the team after the break, you know the intensity will be dialed up with just a few months left till the playoffs. We're doing everything we can to get right back in the Finals. Winning that darn cup is our number one goal.”

Wood was dealt another blow after the Challenge Cup Finals in the IIHF. Team USA failed to make it out of the group stages in the world tournament that took place in front of his own fans in Philadelphia.

“That second loss in the IIHF tournament was just another gut punch. To see my team fail so hard in front of the same Forge season ticket holders I see all season was frustrating,” Wood said as he shook bar dice. “I felt helpless out there with my limited ice time. I felt like I put in a lot of work in the lead up to this tournament but I suppose I was pretty fatigued coming right off of playing in the Finals. I'm hoping to learn from this experience an come back even stronger next season. But it was nice catching up with some old Colorado friends like Shadow (Fenix) and Brooklyn (Physt).”

Wood was also joined by Forge teammate Johnny Shuffleboard on Team USA. Leonard Wood had just 2 points in 12 games on the fourth line with Shadow Fenix and Dusty Rhodes. It was Wood's first appearance in the IIHF tournament, although he's no stranger to international play after winning a silver medal at the WJC in S76.

ON LIFE

Each year Leonard tries to get back home for the holidays. He's missed so much from being constantly away from home starting at such an early age. He sometimes feels more connected to his billets back in Denver than to his parents in Madison. The bus and the plane feels more like home than his own bedroom alongside his wife in Philadelphia.

Looking back at the years he's missed, the sudden realization of everything that's changed rushes to the forefront of his mind. The fact that he spent his youth training hard to make it professionally as a hockey player made his mind lapse on the other details of life.

This Christmas, he saw a for sale sign out in the front yard of his parents neighbors' house, Shirley. When Leonard asked what happened, his parents informed him that she died earlier this fall, peacefully in her sleep.

Wood remembered when her husband died. It was the Christmas that Leonard got brand new Bauer skates at the age of 13. In his excitement to get to the rink to try them out, he missed all of the cars parked out on the street to visit and pay respect to Shirley's husband.

On snowy mornings in the winter, he'd help shovel snow from her driveway before hockey practice. That was how he earned extra money when there was no time for a real job, like other teens had.

In the summer, he'd help her with her garden. Leonard did the things she was too frail to do like lifting large bags of dirt, carrying heavy clay pots, and digging holes with the shovel. He noticed it took considerable effort to get onto her knees to tend to the flowers. And an even greater effort to get back up.

The season that Leonard started his junior hockey career in Denver, Shirley fell and broke her hip. Shirley's days of gardening were over. The next summer, she was compelled to at least tend to a few hanging baskets.

The Christmas after Leonard Wood won the Four Star Cup, Shirley had to walk using a cane. The daily walk to get her mail from the mailbox seemed like a huge task but she was determined to do it anyway. When Leonard was home, he'd try to help her out by getting the mail for her, only for her to say she didn't need the help.

When Leonard handed Shirley her mail, they would talk about what they were currently reading. Their literary interests were what connected them in a way that Leonard couldn't relate to with his parents, who didn't enjoy reading books. Shirley, who was not particularly a hockey fan herself, would still read an occasional recommendation of a hockey biography Leonard suggested.

After Wood went professional with the Philadelphia Forge, he had even less time to spend back home in Madison. He got a phone call from his parents while in a hotel room before a game in Baltimore. His mom caught him up on everything happening back home, including how Shirley fell again. Now, she had to use a walker to get around.

Despite of her body deteriorating, Shirley remained stubborn and defiant. She refused to sell her house to move into assisted living. She was determined to stay in the house where she made a life over the past sixty years.

Leonard Wood, in Philadelphia, approached the game of hockey with the same grit. The start of his SHL career was a struggle. It was hard to adapt to the pace of the pro game for him. But he kept at it with the same determination as his elderly neighbor had for life.

With Wood's professional career now in full force, he lost touch with his folks back home. He became more a part of the Philadelphia community instead. He settled down and had a child of his own. He bought a large house in a suburb of Philadelphia.

When he was informed of Shirley's passing this Christmas, he couldn't help but pause and reminisce. He felt the weight of her passing, of the things of her generation's passing that just isn't going to be replaced.

“I went back and figured out who I was actually playing that night when she died. It was against the Atlanta Inferno. I had an assist on the game,” Wood recalled. “I was on the ice under the bright lights, living my dream, when she drew her last breath.”

So as Frank Sinatra croons about the olden days that seem long lost, Wood can finally feel the changes around him while celebrating the holidays this year. Late at night when all of the festivities are finished, he watches black and white movies from the 1940s in his parent's basement. It takes back to a time where it felt the difference between good and evil was just as black and white. A time that was simpler and life went at a slower pace.

But that's just something that happens when you wade in the shimmering pool of nostalgia. Those times weren't simple and they were far from perfect. Leonard Wood, caught up in the moment, felt like he wanted to live in that time, where all his troubles would seem miles away.

Words: 1374

***KaleSalad*** · 12-28-2024, 06:03 PM

Love this!

ibuprofenaddict · 12-28-2024, 08:04 PM

#doitforshirley

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