Talk:Tony Zale

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I am the grandchild of Tony Zale and wish to explain my experiences with him. Tony Zale was a peaceful, kind and generous man. He taught me how to fight when I was in elementary school. Of course, with learning from such a great boxing master, I quickly got myself suspended from the 1st grade due to punching a 3rd grade boy. I didn't have many visits with him, but when he did visit me, it was memorable. I remember he use to drink an awful spinach shake. First he would boil the spinach then place it in a blender till it was liquidfied then drank it. I always hated how the house would smell every time he would make one of those spinach shakes. I also remember when he would come to visit us, I would always take him to the park for a picnic. He always loved spending time with me. I look back at all of the pictures, stareing at him, wondering a lot about his history. I never got to know him deeply, but there was a love between us like no other. He appeared to be a saint in my eyes.

Another time I remember was when he took my mom and I to the Concord Pavillion in Concord California to a boxing match. Someone got word that my grandfather was in the audience and asked him to come up and give a speech before the match started. I was star struck with my grandfather. After the boxing match, I was offered a gym membership to the "Little C" Club in Concord, which trainned boxers and had other gymnastic classes. It was great being in a boxing atmosphere. I never got to experience boxing myself, but wish I had. I might have been his boxing pride and joy if I was a boy.

The last time I got to see my Grandfather was when he came to stay with my Aunt in Los Angeles. We all went down to Los Angeles to have a family reunion. He was poorly at that stage. He had a difficult time with balance and had a black eye due to falling the previous week. I felt sad to see him in such a state. I was only a teenager the last time we meet.

I remember my mom went to visit him in Chicago when he was in the hospital. She came back saying that he was having a difficult time remember who she was. The alztimers was catching up to him. That is what I believed killed him. When he finally died, it was sad because my mother wasnt even able to attend the funeral. It was such a long time ago.

I didnt even think of looking Tony Zale up on the internet until today. I was talking to my husband about some memories of my family and opened up the photo box and found some pictures of my Grandfather. Looking at the pictures of him and I made me wish that I had had more time to really get to know him better.

My mom told me after my son was born that Grandpa was visiting my son. She felt his presense with them. I didnt want to believe it until one day I finally got the chance to experience what she was talking about. I was lying down with my son, trying to get him to sleep. My mom was in the shower and the house was quite. My son and I were lying on my moms bed. I was facing the wall and my son was facing towards the middle of the room. I knew my grandfather was there because my son started to laugh as if someone was there talking to him. I watched my son for a few mintues, looking at him watching someone and then laughing one mintue and then stareing with a smile on his face the next. After about five minitues of this, I finally turned around and said to the room with a smaile, "Okay, thats enough. I am trying to get Aaron to sleep. Go away and come back later." The moment I said that, my son went to sleep. It was very weird, but I felt closer to my grandfather then ever. Sometimes, I still feel his presense, but I think he is only here visiting my son.

Maybe my son will be the next Tony Zale. He does have a knack for punching things!