Summer Loureanne

To My Daughter

Shooting Guards

You are being chased by your defender from the baseline, you come straight out of a solid pick where your defender slams and falls. Grabbing the ball passed by the point guard from the center, pivoting with your foot closest to the basket, squaring off both feet on the ground then using the moving motion as your momentum. You elevate. You pull up for a shot with your flawless follow-through. And you watch the ball glide into the basket. Rimless. You fall down. You had 3 seconds to shoot that ball.

And the buzzer sounds. You just hit the game-winning shot. You look at your team’s bench. In slow motion you pump your fist. The people are screaming all over.

And you open your eyes, you are just imagining after all. But then, imagination decides everything.

Life is a lot like basketball. Chances of hitting winning shots come too often as it comes too seldom. We will never know. So we always have to be prepared to catch that last pass. We have to be ready to take that last shot. Because in life, we all have to be shooting guards, who, more often than not, are the ones who take the last shot that wins or loses every basketball game.

We are always in pursuit of a championship, a feat that will cement our legacy as a human being, an achievement of a lifetime.

Now I am in pursuit of my championship, a literal sacrifice to elevate an existence impoverished by the constant salvo of changes. Though I know that the game is far from over, I will endure whatever it takes. After all we are all created for chasing dreams.

In basketball, I once shot three straight triples and a jumper to win a pick-up game that we thought we’ve already lost. Rallying 10pts down and hitting shot after shot to seal the hard-fought victory. I’ve had my share of nailing winning shots though I’ve missed at times also but the exultation of winning will all be familiar to us because of the way it becomes an invisible connection of triumph between yourself and your teammates. This goes the same for our individual achievements, we will celebrate with our family, with our loved ones and the feeling of winning will be familiar and it will be mutual too.

The nearer we are to our dreams, the better our loved ones become. After all, our dreams were created for them.

I will always dedicate my life to my family.

So this will be a pursuit of a lifetime. And until that concluding time comes, I will stay ready for that last pass. That last pull-up jumper. That game winning shot in the end because every shooting guard will always be capable of hitting the big shot. For that one big ferocious shot.

In life, like in basketball, I too am a shooting guard.