Basketball

Dear Zachary,

Dad was not looking forward to eight weeks of basketball games and practices. But, I signed you up because you really wanted to play. I'm glad I did.... I got an opportunity to see your kindness and team spirit. I wish I was a dad that knew how to work with you and sports and home, or at least had the drive to try. But, there is plenty of time for that. You're only six now and we are just having fun.

Last week, you had the ball at a game and when your coach told you to pass it, you accidentally passed it so a player on the other team. A rude parent sitting close to me and obviously not knowing I was your father, made rude comments about you.Which is ironic because her son doesn't seem too interested in the game and doesn't play well.  Then at your next game, a parent had to be absent, and so her sitter made rude comments about you, saying you got the ball too much from the coach and it wasn't fair.  I wish these two adults knew what I'm about to tell you.

What the sitter didn't know is that today was your birthday party, and I told the coach that you might be very tired, and it was okay for you to just play the first quarter and sit out the rest of the game. That is why you got the ball so much the first quarter. It wasn't because you were a favorite, it was because the coach knew you'd be sitting out and wanted you to get to play at least a little.

She also didn't know that the little boy she was babysitting was your good friend that you've hung out with a lot and was invited to your party that day but couldn't come.

What the parent doesn't know is how kind you were trying to be to her kid, even though she was making rude comments about you. When we got into the car, you said to me, "You know that little guy that dribbles really little and never gets the ball?" I said, "Yes, what about him?" You said, "Well since he hasn't got to make a basket I tried a bunch of times to pass the ball to him, but he was never looking." I wonder how that parent who thinks you're so horrible would feel if she knew that you have never made a basket during a game either, and wanted him to make one first.

And that's why you're my hero. You care about other people and their feelings. Teachers, parents, and other adults see your trauma on the outside..... they don't know about the love you have on the inside. I can't wait until you get to a place that the world can see who you really are. You will shine bright.

I love you.

Dad