Of all the fish in the sea
I’d rather be a Bass
So I can climb upon the rocks
And slide down on my ###
Been racking my brain trying to figure out how one begins to share the special bond that can exist between a large family of brothers and sisters. Thought I would follow the great words sang by Julia Andrews in “The Sound of Music.” “Let’s start at the very beginning. A very good place to start.”
Growing up as a family of 8 baby boomer siblings in a big neighborhood in Newark, Del., came with so many adventures and stories. Birth years for the 8 children in the family range from 1948 (Bruce) to 1964 (Robert). With 6 boys and 2 girls there was always plenty going on. Whether playing Little League baseball, racing go-karts, or a nightly game of “Kick the Can,” we were a very competitive family. Competitive not only with other family members, but also with all the other kids in the neighborhood.
The biggest activity the whole family became involved with was swimming every summer for our neighborhood swim team. Not sure who was the first to join the swim team, but everyone would at one point or another join in. Every Saturday our mother and father would load up the old station wagon and drive us to wherever the swim meet was that week. And yes, with a family that large at least two of us would have to ride in that third-row seat that looked out the back window of the station wagon.
We were all strong swimmers, but Bruce and Gene (1950) were stellar swimmers. It was a rarity when one of them did not win all their races on any given Saturday. Most of us would continue to swim for several years every summer until reaching high school. Bruce and Gene eventually joined the army and served in Vietnam, while the other siblings one by one slowly stopped swimming competitively.
We decided we would start swimming again and participate in the games to celebrate our upcoming retirement and honor our brothers and parents.
Fast forward some 45 years to the summer of 2017 and everyone except our sister Millie (1953) had moved from Delaware and were scattered across five states. Bruce and Gene both passed after dealing with major health issues. Our father had also passed and our mother was struggling with her own health issues. At this time swimming, or most any other competitive activity, were not part of our lives.
That would all change one day while Dennis (1952) was driving through Birmingham, Ala., and saw a billboard announcing the National Senior Games coming to town. Who knew that roadside billboard would have such an effect on not only my siblings, but also our families?
Dennis and I had talked numerous times about our plans for retirement. After seeing that billboard, with those conversations in mind, he started researching the Senior Games. One night he called and we discussed what he had found, not only about the National Senior Games, but also about the state games that run throughout the country. We decided at that time that we would begin swimming again and participate in the games to celebrate our upcoming retirement and honor our brothers and parents.
In 2018 Dennis got things started by swimming competitively in the Maryland Senior Olympics. I was unable to join him that weekend, but both of us would swim the following week at the Delaware Senior Olympics. The excitement of swimming competitively again carried over to 2019, when we both swam at our first National Senior Games in Albuquerque, NM. Over the next couple of years, we shared our excitement, and with a little convincing we were able to reintroduce our sisters Millie and Dale (1956) to swimming.
Dale would join Dennis and me at the 2022 National Games in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. While there we committed to each other that we would work on getting all our other siblings to join us at the National Senior Games in 2023 in Pittsburgh, Pa. We knew that if we succeeded, it would be the only time other than a funeral when we would all be together.
‘We believe it may be the first time there was an all-family swim relay at the National Senior Games.’
With a lot of convincing and encouragement, we did it. We got a commitment from all the siblings to swim at the 2023 National Senior Games. Dennis and I would travel from Maryland, Millie from Delaware, Dale from North Carolina, Chuck from Florida and Robert from Texas.
Once at the games we decided that we would not only swim our individual events but would put together a relay team consisting entirely of siblings. Not sure if there are any records of this nature kept [they are not], but we believe it may be the first time there was an all-family swim relay at the National Senior Games.
Out of the 6 siblings, no one achieved results in swimming that would put them on the podium, but the time spent in Pittsburg bonding and telling old stories was so much bigger and better than any medal. Though not swimming, several family members did go home with medals. In the triathlon mixed relay, Dennis (swim), Fran (bike) and Dale (run) won the Gold for the 65–69 age group. Fran and Dennis also got Silver medals for men's double cornhole in the 65–69 age group, while Fran also earned a Silver in the mixed doubles cornhole. Dennis also competed in the 70–74 age singles cornhole, taking home a Silver medal.
The slogan for the Maryland Senior Olympics is “To Participate is to Win!” Getting all the siblings together to compete while trying to get on the podium was a huge success in so many ways. Two of the siblings quit smoking while they were training and continue to be smoke free to this day. Fran and Dennis have completed triathlon relays with one of Fran’s daughters. Dale has completed several 5k running events over the past year after doing her first one just two years ago. Dale’s daughter has also started competing in triathlons after finishing her first one with her Uncle Fran last year.
Plans for us Bass siblings getting together again at the National Senior Games in Des Moines in 2025 are already underway. The dates have been blocked off on our calendars and qualifying state swim meets for this year have been planned. Even a spouse or two have shown an interest in joining us. Not sure how things will play out between now and the 2025 games. If all goes well and you see any of us there please stop us and say hello. One of the special bonuses of participating in so many state and national games is we have met so many new friends.
**FYI: That little rhyme at the top of this story is something our father would say when we were little. It has become a verse we continue to share and now have all our children and grandchildren repeating it. Even have a family crest designed with that saying on it. And of course the “###” means “hands and knees,” what else would it be?
Francis Bass worked for 21 years at the University of Maryland and retired in 2019 as Manager of Classroom Technology. He lives in Laurel, Md., with his wife Brend Lee Bass.
Photo caption: The Bass siblings at the games, left to right, Robert, Millie, Fran, Dennis, Dale and Chuck.
Photo credit: Francis Bass.
