Do what you love
My teammate texted me yesterday to see if I was going to play in the Reignman Classic Basketball tournament this weekend. Our team plays every year.
Last year, I played in the tournament on the day of my book release party. I played in two games and then made myself presentable to do readings from my memoir, Back on the Court. I guess it seems appropriate, as the book is about finding happiness, finding love and finding my way back to the basketball court. A place I love to be.
This tournament, for me, is the closest thing to being back in college. Most players are ex-college athletes and the games are intense, fast paced and competitive. But most of the players are also half my age, and I was beginning to wonder if it might be time to hang up the high tops for this tournament. But then I got the text, the reassurance that I was wanted and I was glad, because there is nothing I like better than being on the court.
That’s when it hit me, what was I thinking, considering not playing? Playing basketball, doing this thing I love, is what helped save my life when I had nothing else to live for. There will be a time to hang up my shoes, when I can’t beat my man down the court on defense and I can’t catch the ball (because too many of my finger have been broken), but until then I will do what I love for as long as I can.
Listen to your heart and make time for the things you love.
Nov 17 – Book Signing at Northwest Art & Frame (Holiday Open House)
Date: Saturday – November 17, 2012
Time: 3-5:30
Location: Northwest Art & Frame – 4733 California AVE SW, Seattle, WA 98116
Destiny
This summer we acquired a 10-month-old puppy. Bruno joined our family after we found him on a freeway, while on vacation in Montana. I had always wanted to get a friend for our dog Sassy (an 8-year-old Boxer who was still in puppy mode), but my husband thought I was crazy.
Bruno happens to be the second boxer that I’ve found on a freeway, the first was a white Boxer, that we named Bumper because he had dodged so many cars on Highway 509, before I, nine months pregnant with my son, ran out into the 3 lane road to stop traffic. Though he got along with our dog Ramsay (also a Boxer), with a heavy heart, we found him a home and said goodbye. (after all, we were already about to add a second child to the family)
After finding Bruno, we searched veterinarians offices, put up signs, called the sheriff and the radio station, and had a pet rescue volunteer take care of him for 3 days. Of course I wanted to keep him from the moment I spotted his rail thin body loping across the freeway like a deer, from the moment I hollered at Jason to stop the car so I could walk the side of the road and coax him in, but we were on vacation, he probably had a home and we lived in the city with a small yard.
“We don’t have enough room for two big dogs,” Jason had always said.
I grew up with boxers. My parents have had twelve? Thirteen? More dogs than I can count without pulling out my childhood photo albums. I know they started with Old Prince, the dog my dad brought to the United States from Austria after marrying my […]
Mt Si: A Moving Meditation
My plan was to make a quick ascent of Mt Si, get in a good workout and enjoy the view. The perfect beginning for my birthday getaway. But as I made my way up the steep Mt. Si hillside, my mind was spinning. There was guilt for taking two days for myself and leaving my family. It was spirit week at my daughter’s school and I was missing doing her 80’s day make up, there was the fence to be fixed at the rental house, dogs to be fed, watered & walked, forms to be typed up for coaching, laundry, the list was endless. With each step, I remembered one more responsibility, one more reason I shouldn’t be there on the trail. But as I continued upward and the journey became more difficult (it’s a 4 mile hike up to a 4167 ft elevation) my mind tired of the babble in my brain and opened to the quiet rhythm. Step. Step. Breathe. Step. Step. Breathe. Step. Step. Breathe. Soon I found a calmness in my heart and in my mind.
The trail was empty and with the silence, and a still mind, came a slow release of tears. The fall season is my favorite time of the year, though now, with fall comes sorrow. It is the time of year that I lost my fiancé over 20 years ago. There is a dull ache in my gut mixed with the joy I feel when the crisp air pushes out the summer heat. On my birthday, two days earlier, I had attended the last OV invite, the memorial golf tournament that raised scholarship money in the name of my fiancé. My birthday, like the fall season, was bitter sweet, but on this day, with the […]
Meet Sonya
Meet Sonya
Sonya Elliott’s memoir, Back on the Court: A Young Woman’s Triumphant Return to Life, Love & Basketball, is her story of finding hope in the wake of tragedy after she and her fiancé were hit by a train. She blogs about writing, basketball, and life and is currently working on a Young Adult Novel and a Non-Fiction Coaching book. Stories of her career as a fashion model are woven through her memoir, as both the Soloflex and Easy Spirit Shoes commercials were filmed during that time period, and this unique and intriguing business continues to be a part of her life.
Sonya played basketball at Eastern Washington University and was a starter for the Big Sky Champion team that went to the 1987 NCAA tournament. She coached for almost 25 years and was voted Seattle Times Coach of the Year, Seattle Officials Women’s Basketball Association Coach of the Year, and twice voted Metro League Coach of the Year. She loves the game of basketball and is thankful, not only for her husband and kids but for her ability to continue to get back on the court.
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Monday’s Pen to Paper: Peaceful Chaos
It’s a new year! I don’t know about you, but although I had a great holiday season, I am ready to get back to some semblance of a schedule. 4 people and 2 dogs in the house 24/7 means a lot of laundry and dishes and mess to keep up with and no “me” time to do it.
This morning the house is empty (Well except for Bruno and Sassy-and they are quietly waiting for a walk-and myself. ) So I feel light. Like I can breathe. That’s the way I’m built. I enjoy people, especially my family, but I need to spend some time alone or I wind up like a top, ready to spin out of control. I rarely do…spin out of control, but I feel it on the inside.
I have a quote in my room that I do my best […]
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Holiday Spirit
I’m not quite in the Holiday spirit but I’m getting there. Yesterday my husband put some lights on the house and we got our Christmas tree up. I even had hot spiced wine mulling (this ritual actually starts the day after Thanksgiving). I don’t drink it every day, just let its flavor permeate the house (and cover the odor of two large dogs).
I grew up celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve and decorating a day or two before. This was normal, so I’m actually a little ahead of schedule. Today I will spend some time getting the rest of the house more festive, which might start with getting it clean, and then adding garland, the Three Kings and miniature Christmas room that my grandma made, the Annalee Elves and Santas that my mom and dad have given me over the years and […]
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