Congrats to Jared Phay

Jared Phay probably doesn't know me from a hole in the ground, but I'm gonna congratulate him anyway. I know Jared, his mother and his grandparents. I even got to know his uncle, the detective, via email.

Jared, who coaches basketball at North Idaho College, was just named Region 18 coach of the year after a stellar season with his NIC Cardinals.

I watched Jared play basketball back in the mid-'90s. That was when he was attending Falls Christian School, and our son Willie was playing basketball for Sandpoint High.

They played opposite each other during a summer basketball league, designed for players to hone their skills and get some good experience for the upcoming winter season.

As I recall, Jared's team usually outdid the Bulldogs in those scrimmages, and Jared was an outstanding player. Willie went on to improve as a player during his high school years, and, as a senior, was named Most Inspirational by his teammates. He still plays pick-up ball whenever possible.

Nowadays, Jared coaches basketball, while Willie writes about the sport for the Idaho Press Tribune.

The two young men probably have no real idea how far back their family connection goes, but there's an old lady here who can tell them. I won't call Jared's mother Jeannie "old," cuz she's a year younger than I am, but she could probably fill in a few gaps too.

Jeannie and I first met each other when we were little squirts tagging along with our parents who loved Arabian horses. Sy and Avis Thompson lived with their family in Post Falls, while we, of the Tibbs/Brown family, lived in Sandpoint.

About 50 years ago, area Arabian horse owners decided to start a club so they could get together, socialize, talk and show off each other's beautiful horses.

As some of the original members of the North Idaho Arabian Assoc., the Thompsons and the Tibbs became friends with folks like Ralph Nelson from Coeur d'Alene, Tom Yeomans from Potlatch, and the Carson brothers of Larry and Wayne from the Moscow area.

The Balches of Sagle were also an integral part of this group, but we had already known them for a long time. In fact, Gene and Etta were the ones who got us started raising those beautiful Arabians in the first place.

Generally during the meetings, while parents talked, kids got together and did things kids do. I know we didn't sit there and listen attentively to every word said by the adults.

Years later, the club disbanded but not the friendships. Kids grew up, and Jeannie Thompson and I kept in touch because of our horse interests and the fact that we were both high school English teachers.

Eventually, Sy and Avis moved up here to a farm in none other than Selle. They stayed a while and later moved back south to be closer to their kids.

And, even more eventually, the sons of Marianne and Jeannie got connected through basketball. They didn't really know each other well, but they probably remember their mothers sitting together in the stands, gabbing and doting on each son's every move.

Maybe some day, Willie will get to interview Jared, and then, yet another generation will move on, remembering a connection that began long ago, begun by Arabian horses and later nurtured by basketball.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Willie and Debbie are driving up from Boise as I type, and when they get here, they'll lay eyes for the first time on their very own symbol of that longtime family connection----a pretty little Arabian filly named Heather.

I guess once again, you'd say another treasured circle of life's match-ups is almost complete.

Congratulations to Jared from the lady whom he doesn't know from a hole in the ground but a lady who sure knows a lot about him. And, my congrats to his family, who are most likely very proud of his achievements.