Life is a See saw

Stanford is a great hospital with the finest of medical care but despite all that sometimes the news is not what you want to hear. That's what happened to us. Jim's brother will move on to a new plan. Tougher but he has always been a stubborn fighter.

We left the hospital later that evening and drove to our daughter's home two hours away. Basketball season was still in full swing for them because her oldest son is playing on a winning team and they are in big-time playoffs. Very exciting. The whole community was backing the team on their latest rung on the latter. We were happy to be here and to get caught up in the excitement.

Our daughter packed sandwiches so that we could snack as we stood at the head of the line waiting for the ticket sales to open.
Families were laughing and joking as they lined up. You could feel hopeful excitement.

I fell into a conversation with a father in line behind us, "why did you come out from the East Coast?" he asked. "I am a storyteller and I am out for the Rogue Festival in Fresno." " You mean you are going to it?" " Yes. and I am performing." A bit of quiet as that tidbtbit settled. "Are you interested in storytelling?" I asked. He waited a few minutes and then, "Actually I have a desire to tell stories. I have a story in me I want to tell."
names of a few local area storytellers he could contact and suggested he attend the East Bat Storyteling Festival in the Spring. He already had a shelf of storytelling books. He is on his way. I hope he follows through. I would like to hear his 9/11 story.

When the teams ran onto the court we saw that the opposing team was made up of big, strong guys who could hit basket after basket. Our guys played hard and well. They fell behind and then rallied coming within two points but when the bell rang - we were down - and so that was it.

Sudden death.

That's what happens in these play-offs. Before the game the team was a contender - afterwards the season was done. No more games. For the seniors -the end of their high school basketball experience. For the other team-members - such deep disappointment.

Remember how deeply these disappointments hurt when you were in high school? Ouch!

You know something - loss and disappointment hurt like that all through life.

Its that the stakes get higher.