This could very well be the year that I could finally have my father come and watch me play the sport we both loved. My father and mother got divorced when I was about five years old. Since that time, I had seen my dad only scarcely. I was lucky if he had shown up to any of my elementary games. Me and my father had been very distant and it was sad for me. Things started to change as my season started.
During our first home game I got a glance of my dad as he came through the door. I was so happy to see him that I then played like I had a championship on the line. After the game I quickly ran out of the locker room to greet him and ask him how my performance was and he had already left. I would see this pattern of my dad leaving early every game. It made me sad, but I got over it eventually.
Having my dad tell me how good I was at basketball would mean so much to me, but why?
Well my father was the one that had given me the genes to play basketball. He played high School basketball at St. Francis. He set about 90% of the records there, and as of now they are still there. I checked to see if this was true and it was. He then went on to play at a small college basketball team. His grades had failed him out of that college. After failing out, he transferred to CMU (Central Michigan University). He would then take a 1 year brake from basketball to party and have fun. He threw away his great chance of making it big with this sport to party.
I love my dad and know for a fact that I have the same passion he has for the sport. But after learning that he threw away something that I would dream to have, I would never make the same mistake he had made.
Having him come to my games to see me play and succeed in the same sport he succeeded in, is and will always be a blessing to me. My mother was at every single one of my games and was always there when I needed her the most. I thank her for that and really appreciate her. I don't know what I would do without her. As for my father, it always felt that I needed to prove something to him through basketball, and so it felt like I was more excited when he would see me instead of my mom.
Family is so important in my life. They influence me through good and bad examples. Without the examples of their mistakes and their greats, I wouldn't be who I am today. So thank you fam for being there for me and my life.
I'm sorry to hear that you don't see your dad very often. How you said you love it when your parents come to your games I am the opposite. I am the type of player that likes to play when not many people are watching because it puts way too much pressure on myself and I get really nervous. So I wouldn't usually be too mad or care at all if my parents couldn't make it to a game. It usually makes me play worse because I feel like I have to impress people and I get really tight and it makes me mess up.
ReplyDeleteHey jake, this is a really good story. Sorry about your dad not being there for you, but you hung in there and kept going. One thing for sure, you can always depend on mom. Proud of you. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post, Jake. I like how you talked about the role of your family and how your reactions to your mom and dad coming were so different. I can sure see why you were excited to see your dad, but I'm impressed you are also thoughful enough to understand and appreciate your mom being there for you all the time. It's easy to take the consistent parent for granted.
ReplyDelete-Kristen