Our Tennis Paradise: A New Chapter

Five years ago this week, my late wife Roneet passed away. Since that time, I have written a lot about her and my journey since she left us. From death and despair can also come renewal if we make a concerted effort to grow and evolve and take those who we lost with us deep in our hearts on the next phase of our journey.?

As I reflect back on these last five years, I am deeply grateful for the support I have received from so many. I’m also proud of the actions I have taken to honor her memory and to grow by taking on new challenges and going outside of my comfort zone. This includes philanthropic endeavors here and abroad to honor Roneet, investments that I have made, business growth (and now challenges), construction and remodeling (things I always left to Roneet to lead), a consistent commitment to health, extensive travel, taking up tennis, and the relationships and well being that have come from that.

Roneet was not one to rest on her laurels. She was always looking for the next opportunity to grow as a couple, family, financially, and experientially. I’m glad that I was able to carry that mantle with me in the wake of her passing. I know she would have stayed engaged in the world had the tables been turned, and I feel like, in some ways, I’m honoring her legacy if I do the same.?

Many of the best decisions I have made in life ended up being fairly in the moment and spontaneous. Roneet and I met in a very unusual way, how I got my job at CWS was extremely unconventional, and some of our best real estate investments were a combination of having an intuitive feel for the prospects for a property combined with a firm understanding of relative values such that when something arose that we liked we often jumped on it without a lot of analysis. We were also well aligned in terms of what we wanted to impart to our kids and our overall values. In short, it really was a very powerful and wonderful partnership. Like every couple, we, of course, had our ups and downs, but if you look at where we started off together and what we ended up with in terms of experiences, relationships, financial well-being, and wonderful memories that to this day, still bring a smile to my face and often make me laugh, I was one very lucky person to have had the opportunity to spend 32 years with such a powerful force as Roneet.

One of the unexpected, spontaneous events that took place in the wake of Roneet’s passing was meeting Heather. It’s a long story, but that, too, was purely spontaneous and very easily could never have happened. Fast forward 4+ years later, and we are not only still together, but we are going to make our bond permanent as we intend to get married next year. Heather is a wonderful, kind person who has experienced loss herself, so she can understand a lot of what I have gone through. She also knows how central Roneet was to me and our family and what a life force she was.? She is so wonderful in terms of honoring her memory, which I appreciate so much. And what gratifies me the most is that she has a very nice relationship with Roneet’s parents, who I love dearly.

And while I started taking up tennis again towards the end with Roneet, it was Heather who really got me into it in a much bigger way. She encouraged me to join a local tennis club, which was a game-changer. It gave me the ability to take lessons, play consistently, meet some wonderful people, and allow me to make great strides in improving my game. She has also been a great friend and companion. She loves to travel. She is adventurous, easygoing, and always loves to have a good time.?

It’s also been wonderful to create things together with her as well. We purchased a home in the Palm Springs area and did an extensive remodel that came out so well and brings us so much pleasure to relax there and have friends and family enjoy it as well. Everyone who comes to the house is so complimentary and loves how relaxing and welcoming it is and the overall feel to it. This is quite gratifying as a lot of what we do is with the goal of inspiring greater connectivity with others and cultivating wonderful memories.

Last week, I wrote about The Sphere in Las Vegas, the revolutionary new concert and immersive film venue in Las Vegas that cost $2.3 billion and was over $1 billion over budget. I have embarked on my own personal Sphere in conjunction with Heather. For nearly three years, we have been working on getting approvals for and breaking ground on a tennis court, casita, and second-level viewing and entertainment deck at my home in Orange County. The scope, complexity, and cost of this project are far greater than I ever anticipated. Needless to say, I am massively over budget. Well, there really wasn’t a budget, just a rough estimate of the cost.?

Our Tennis Paradise

This picture attempts to show the scope of the project. What it doesn’t show is the incredible amount of excavation required, the depth and size of the footings, and the culvert underneath the court to push water through in the event of large storms since this is in a low-lying flood zone.

This picture shows the side walls that were poured and the wood forms on the outside of the walls. It took approximately 20 concrete trucks to pour the side walls.

Here is most of the wood that was used to create the forms around the walls.

This picture shows me on the court with the casita and viewing deck in the background.

This picture is a good representation of the magnitude of the side walls.

I don’t think these pictures truly convey how complex and involved this project is, but hopefully, you get the picture to some degree (pun intended).

If I use my left brain and think about the cost relative to the end-state market value, I shudder to think about the folly of my endeavor. If I use my right brain, however, and think about what the possibilities are for the end state, I find myself getting very excited.

The court has the potential to be our personal tennis paradise, and when combined with the viewing deck, the experience for attendees will hopefully be extraordinary and produce incredible memories and deeper social bonds. It’s been proven over and over that the keys to longevity are nutrition, exercise, even better if it’s from natural movement that comes with our everyday lives, consistent sleep, having a powerful purpose, and strong relationships. By building this court and viewing deck, I feel like I am truly adding to the potential for Heather and I to add to our life expectancy, especially from a quality standpoint.?

I have this belief because it turns out that tennis is the sport which adds the most life expectancy of all athletic endeavors.??

In a recent study, tennis tops the list of sports scientifically proven to increase life expectancy. Badminton and soccer come in 2nd and 3rd.

And if you add to this that my vision is for the court and casita deck to be a magnet for excellence in tennis, fostering strong relationships and deep social bonds, a place to have a tremendous amount of fun, and one in which wonderful memories will be created, then the enhancement to the quality of life for Heather and myself could result in a return on investment that goes far beyond any financial metric.

Finally, another unexpected and spontaneous event in our lives that took place recently was the acquisition of a kitten that we thought was only a temporary situation. Temporary has now turned to permanent, and this is Beans hanging out in my home office while I’m doing work. I was never a cat person, or a dog person for that matter, until we got Harry, but I have really taken to Beans and now find cats so fascinating and interesting.