A story

Once upon a time a little boy wandered onto a neighborhood basketball court. The little boy had wandered away from the adjacent playground and the not so watchful eye of his older sister. He was drawn by the orange ball that lay alone at one end of the concrete court. Unnoticed by the boys playing at the other end he made his way to the ball that just seemed to be calling his name. He picked it up and dropped it. The ball bounced a couple of times and began to roll away, he gave pursuit, giggling the whole time. The process repeated several times till all of a sudden a booming voice yelled, "get that kid off the court!" One of the boys had noticed the toddler as play turned to head to that end of the court. Play stopped, a panicked older sister sprinted toward the court. Then, as if he knew the young boy, the oldest of the boys, a teenager, stopped the rolling ball and handed it to the smiling boy. At that moment a bond was formed, but not just any bond, it was a bond that would grow and be strengthened for years to come. A teenager, a toddler, and a basketball on a concrete court in a neighborhood park would be the starting point of a lifelong friendship.

So, you may be wondering who these people are in the story. To be honest with you I don't know. This is the synopsis of a dream of mine. A dream to write a book, or maybe a series of books, I really don't know. I had what I like to call a "slap to the face" moment this week. It is one of those moments where you are snapped back to reality so to speak, you realize that life is real, that we only have a certain amount of time here on this earth and we don't know how long that is. It was during this moment that I realized I have things running around in my brain and I need to get them written down and recorded before they slip away. I have begun writing a story about our recent adoption. It is still in it's infancy stages, it is going to be one of my summer projects. The story I shared at the start of this post is the central theme for what I hope to someday turn into a book. I have no time table, I have no set plans, just a head full of random little stories, some true, some fantasy, that through years of coaching, playing, and watching sports have played out in front of me and in my head. Stories filled with joy and sadness, highs and lows, diverse characters, but most of all relationships fill my thoughts tonight. Relationships are what is all about. Sometimes we miss that. We are too absorbed in ourselves, and our kids that we don't spend time tending to relationships beyond the walls of our own homes. Sometimes the relationships in our homes our the ones getting neglected. Regardless, we need to be attentive to all of our relationships. What are we putting into the relationship? What are we getting from the relationship? Is it a positive or negative relationship?

Please take time this week to assess your relationships. Have you really told the people you care about that you love them enough? If not do something about it.