Dig deep...

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Life gives each of us plenty of opportunities to look inward. Many of these situations lead us to make one of two choices; keep trying or give up.

Kate spent years working on her basketball skill set. She played travel basketball, saw a personal trainer, worked out with her various basketball teams... Kate would eat, sleep, dream basketball. She has handmade drawings of her favorite NBA player on her bedroom wall. She carries a Houston Rockets backpack and named her cat after the Rockets. All of her time, energy, work, focus was aimed at starting her high school basketball career. Excitement doesn't begin to describe her feelings about playing high school ball. So a month after 8th grade when her health trauma began, her hopes and dreams ended. 

We talk about miracles in our house. What is a miracle. We read about miracles in the Bible but maybe not all miracles are quite so noticeable as a leper being instantly cured. Maybe we are living a miracle right now. Kate was very close to not being with us anymore. We were told she'll likely have a different personality, she may not be able to walk, talk, retain all of her memories. But when she woke up, she was our old Kate through and through.

The idea of playing ball at the same level she once did is highly unlikely, and Kate knows this. But she is slowly putting in the work to regain strength and relearn footwork. In an effort to build endurance she completed a 5K during a cross country meet a few weeks back. She strongly dislikes running and the 5K was incredibly hard for her but she dug deep and crossed the finish line with friends and teammates running alongside of her. 

We are so proud of Kate; not just for completing a 5K but for all of the mental and physical work she has put into this journey. Sometimes I cry for reasons I can't explain and Kate, being the strongest one in the bunch, hugs me. She is impressive.


 

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