Giving...

Happy birthday, Tata.  For 30 years you have been a guiding light, an inspiration in perseverance and patience and faith. The world, my world, has been better for your existence. Thank you for your unconquerable soul. William Ernest Henley. 1849–1903 Invictus OUT of the night that covers me,   Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be   For my unconquerable soul.    In the fell clutch of circumstance          5   I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance   My head is bloody, but unbowed.    Beyond this place of wrath and tears   Looms but the Horror of the shade,   10 And yet the menace of the years   Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.    It matters not how strait the gate,   How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate...

“It’s a tool we can use to teach kids about their surroundings. In basketball, if you don’t look after the people around you, you’re not going to be successful. It’s that simple. It’s not a man-on-man game, it’s not a one-person game; you can be the best player on the planet, but without a good team, you’re not going to win.” http://citynews.com.au/2013/throwing-a-basketball-at-big-problems/#comments

Rodrigue and I had finished our first day together training the Kammengo kids, and we were exhausted.  The Sun had turned the tilted concrete court into a baking pan, and our feet and our heads had melted just a little throughout the course of the day.  I'm sure the black Big Bangs shirts added somewhat to the heat.  We hadn't thought far enough to even consider what we would be eating that night, which is not altogether surprising for us, as we seem to get caught up in the rush of every camp, no matter where we are. As we sat on the plastic chairs in the courtyard, a tall, black, short-haired woman walks in through a side door, strides over to where we're sitting, and announces that dinner is ready... some women seem so perfect for motherhood, and dear Agnes was a mother to all she encountered. Fresh avocado, pineapple, even sweet bananas, all were laid out for us.  Like the doting mother she was, Agnes made sure we both had our full share, and continued to...