At the Simple Invitational match between the Whitecaps and the Timbers last night, I looked out in the second half and saw the #11 jersey. "Hey", I said to my friend Mark, "when did Kalif sub in? " He looked at me pityingly and said "Kalif's no longer a Timber. He's gone." And my response was surprise. I liked Kalif and wished very much that he'd found his form with the Timbers. I remember first seeing him as a new acquisition and being impressed by his dazzling foot skills. I also remember him being knocked about in league play. It wasn't until last season, I thought, that he really had found enough physicality to hold his own and begin to re-exhibit some of the flare he'd shown in that first appearance.
My other thought was how busy life has been since the end of the last season. I've had little time to connect with what was happening with the team-- work, aging parents, adult children, grandkids. Life is a blur. And I'm looking forward to stepping out of that world occasionally to savor the next adventures of the Timbers, my team. I'll miss Kalif out on the field but I hope that wherever he lands he's able to make his mark. And one day we'll say, "oh yeah, I remember when he was just a kid and joined the Timbers.".
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