This is my contribution to the #GirlDad meme. One of my favorite photos with my daughters. What a blessing they are to my life. I love being a father to daughters.
It’s been hard for me to process the tragic news of Kobe, his daughter, and the families they were traveling with passing away. I can usually put my finger on how I feel and work through my emotions, but it’s taken me a minute with this one.
I think it’s because they were on their way to a travel basketball game.
I think it’s because it was too close to home with the season of my life right now.
I spend countless hours watching my daughters play basketball … And countless more dissecting games with them, finding videos of moves to help them and pretty much watching them fall totally in love with a sport that I have been passionate about since my early teens.
Kobe was a big part of the highs and lows I’ve experienced as a basketball player and fan … I don’t think any other single player made me yell ‘noooooooo’ as much at the TV (I was always on the wrong side of his brilliance 😊).
A few hours after I heard the news, somebody posted a montage of Kobe and his daughter … It wasn’t a montage of a celebrity family as much as it was of a father and his daughter totally consumed with the game they loved together. I couldn’t watch any more tributes after that … And I’ve been avoiding sports radio all week … (My kids know how unlike me that is 🙂).
I didn’t know Kobe or his family and friends personally … But what I shared with them was our common humanity. Our common experiences of loving and being loved. Our common capacity for passion.
My meditation this week has been on how precious every moment is – and how much I cherish the gifts that God has given me to love ❤.
Note: This is the story that led to the #GirlDad meme