LA COSTA ---- As a teen-ager, Andrea Jaeger was one of the best tennis players in the world.
At 15, she was the youngest seeded player at the 1980 Wimbledon tournament. She was a U.S. Open semifinalist the same year. But four years later, she left competitive tennis, partly because of injuries.
Andrea Jaeger helps children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
She also had a higher calling: a limitless compassion to help children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
Jaeger is the driving force behind the Silver Lining Foundation, a privately funded organization that owns a 10-acre ranch in Aspen, Colo.
Her foundation has touched the hearts of thousands since it opened in 1990. The ranch provides children a week during which they can smell fresh air and hear the sounds of something other than a hospital.
They trade medical schedules for river rafting, horseback riding and arts and crafts projects with such notables as Martina Navratilova, John McEnroe, Anna Kournikova, Monica Seles and Cindy Crawford.
The celebrities pay their own way and donate their time without fanfare because they believe in what Jaeger is doing.
The sessions, as Jaeger calls them, usually are limited to 20 applicants who are sent from children's hospitals from around the country.
Jaeger is at La Costa at the Acura Tennis Classic for a fund-raising dinner tonight that helps raise the more than $2 million needed each year to keep her vision alive. For Jaeger, now 37, caring for others has become her mission in life.
When did Jaeger know she could make a difference? "Probably the first hospital I visited when I was 15," she said.
She visited the Helen Hayes Hospital in the New York area when she was on the tennis tour.
"I bought some toys and went to the hospital and saw these kids," Jaeger said. "There were three of them, all between 8 and 12 years old, in a play room and each had a different story.
"One was attached to an IV pole. She had lost her hair going through chemotherapy. Another girl was bald, as well. And the boy had lost his hands.
"The boy challenged me to video games, and I thought, 'I can't play him. What if I win because he can't move the controls?' He ended up beating me like 24 out of 24 games.
"While this was going on, the girl was dancing with the IV pole as if it were her partner. The other girl then asked me if I wanted to feel her bald head."
The visit had a profound influence on Jaeger.
"I grew up using my hands for tennis and thousands of people applauding that," she said. "Now here are these kids with no one applauding but they have life totally in control. It was the same thing wherever I went ---- there was some kind of light in them.
"No matter what darkness was inside, they still had the ability to appreciate life."
Her foundation is not just a one-week deal. It offers counseling and various kinds of lasting strength and support, including college scholarships.
The biggest example of her dedication may be the phone in Jaeger's bedroom. It is an 800 number that allows any of her kids to call day or night. Sometimes, the news is good. Many times, they will tell her that cancer has returned.
There was the time a 14-year old told her about picking out clothes, music and makeup for her own funeral.
"I was 14 when I turned pro," said Jaeger, lowering her voice.
Or the 8-year-olds who confide in her that candy doesn't taste the same because of chemotherapy.
"When you are 8 years old, you aren't supposed to care about anything but laughing," said Jaeger.
Said Seles: "I don't know how she does it. I'm amazed at all the kids she has helped. She is one of the most courageous individuals I know. The only people more courageous are her kids."
How does Jaeger answer that phone night after night? "It needs to be done, is probably the best reason," she said.
And so does the fund raising.
"My whole life is about racing around and pleading and begging people to donate," she said.
Thanks to the efforts of Los Angeles Times sports editor Bill Dwyre and local sports promoter Irv Grossman, Jaeger has a friend in Acura. This is the only tournament she attends each year and this marks the third time Acura has put on a benefit at La Costa.
Last year's event raised $205,000 for Silver Lining. This one is a sellout, but Jaeger noted, "There will be a silent auction before tonight's match that people can bid on."
By buying some of those auction items, you can help this dedicated lady make a difference.
"You can't just sit down and say, 'OK, I made a difference today. I'm done.' " said Jaeger. "I wake up every day thinking what can I do to make a difference. That's pretty much how I live my life."
Steve Scholfield is senior sports columnist for the North County Times. He can be reached at (760) 740-3509 or scholf@nctimes.net.
8/1/02
