I will start this story by thanking everyone for all the wonderful birthday wishes. It really meant a lot to me. I would especially like to thank the people who reminded me that I am still, and always will be, older than them. That’s right, Shauna Mendenhall, I’m talking to you! But on a positive note, my sister Patty will always be older than us both, so there’s that!
After you have lived on this planet for over 61 years now, you are expected to be, (What’s the term?) Oh yeah, “Older and Wiser” I definitely have the Older covered, but the Wiser is another subject. With that being said, I will list the top five things I have learned over the last 61 years.
- Fouling people at morning basketball is very therapeutic.
I remember my basketball coaches telling me to work on and develop my skills. Since defense and passing the ball didn’t seem that fun, fouling became the area I exceled in.
- You will never get any sympathy from the guys at morning basketball (It might have something to do with #5)
Sometimes at morning basketball, I will get blood on my jersey. Now that’s not that unusual, except the last two Saturdays, it’s been mine. When the guys found out it was mine, everyone laughed and said, “That’s Karma for you!” and “The Universe is coming back into balance!” I responded with “No one makes me bleed my own blood!” but they wouldn’t even pretend to be scared.
- Just because your mind thinks you can do something, doesn’t mean your body agrees.
I will be playing basketball, and my mind will tell me “You should dribble past those two defenders, and drive to the basket” And my body will respond with getting two steps toward the defenders before they take the ball away from me.
- The Male Ego never dies
I can miss twenty shots in a row, but the one that goes in will be the one I remember and talk about. (Oh yeah, the story always gets better with age. You know, the wide-open layup becomes a half-court buzzer beater to win the game.) The women reading this story will back me up on this, I am sure.
But to be serious now, this is the most important lesson I have learned.
1.The bond of family and friends is the only thing in life that’s important.
I have gone through some challenging times in my life, and the people that helped me through it were my family and my friends. I have also had some wonderful experiences because of these same people. Thank you for helping me learn this valuable lesson.
Shannon, you have helped me learn and grow so much. I am so blessed for your example and I will work as hard as I can, so you will be proud of me. I will always LOVE AND MISS YOU sweetheart.
Next week: Mini-Golf season is here!
P.S. I can foul people at Mini-Golf too. I’m just saying.