Lost in memories

I remember waking up at 6 a.m. every summer morning during middle school to play basketball. My parents made me wait until 10 a.m. so I wouldn't wake the neighbors up. In those 4 hours I would come up with the drills I was going to do for the day. I would spend all day playing basketball. I even remember all the times I did the "three...two...one he shoots and wins the game!!!" and when I made the shot I would run around the court pretending thousands of people were cheering for me and the incredible shot I just made...

All my best friends growing up I met through basketball. We all would practice signing autographs for when we were in the N.B.A. We would sleepover at each other's houses watching basketball movies and having slam dunk contests in the basement (on little hoops of course).

Basketball was my dream growing up (like millions of other boys) and as I got older. it got more serious. It became more about winning and not about having fun. I played in high school and was pretty good. Then the dream died.

From that point forward-basketball was bittersweet. It was a game of so many memories and also one of my lost childhood dream.

Today I played basketball. And it was just fun. No pressure, no real meaning behind it...just fun. In about 30 minutes I relived my childhood. I thought about all my friends growing up, all the games I played in, all the summer camps I went to, everything. And it was really nice. It was nice to get lost in those memories. I am thankful for the game that was such a huge part of my life. It taught me many lessons and it brought me some of my best friends growing up. Although things have changed as I get older- it was still nice to remember. I am thankful for that.