11

I don’t know how many times in my life I have been asked to “guess a number, any number?”  You probably have been asked hundreds of times too.  Most of us have a favorite number that we will respond with 9 times out of 10.  For me that number 11.  Not only is it my favorite number, it is also our “family’s favorite number,” let me explain why. 

The house my parents first bought was on 711 Torrance Circle, after living their for a couple of years they moved into 611 West 3^rd, and for the last 17 years 1311 North Dewey has been the address I refer to as home.  Phil and Cindy Kenkel were married on August 11^th while my younger brother Tyler was born on July 11^th.  Whenever given the opportunity to choose a number for a sporting team my brother and I would both instantly choose 11, there are handfuls of jerseys in our closets marked “Kenkel 11.”  Throughout the years both Northwest and professional players who wear the number have jumped out at us as favorite players.  When I was younger I would always tell myself it wasn’t because of the number I idolized them so much but because of their pure ability to play the sport—but now I am starting to reconsider why I thought they were so great.

While there have been tons of other instances I remember my mom pointing out an 11, whether it be a hotel room number on a family vacation, a seat number on a plane ticket, how much a bill rang up to at a gas station, or a certain event on the 11^th of the month.  This number probably doesn’t pop up around my family any more than others but ever since I was young it has been fun to notice it and call it “my family’s number.”