I can’t let birthday month end without saying this:

I’ve had some rough times and life has taken more than its fair share of swings at me. I was moved from my home at the worst age possible and I seriously contemplated suicide.  I ended a 6+ year marriage because she wasn’t the love of my life.  I have a father who pretty much defined my being for the first 18 years of my existence. I haven’t spoken to that man for about two years. Even if I wanted to speak to him (I don’t), I wouldn’t know how to contact him because I don’t know where he is. I recently had a mini-dilemma and this mini-dilemma really bothered me – much more than it should have.

Because of some of you, I just kicked its ass.

I kick ass in general. I can say this without hesitation. I really do.

I kick ass because of many the people who read this blog every day. You are the people that to matter to me and without you in my life, I would kick a lot less ass. Without the ones that matter, I’d be nothing. I think about it every once in a while and I’m humbled by it. I’ve been blessed to meet and know some of the finest people on the planet. In each of those people, I find their very best qualities and I do my best to try and emulate them. I also love meeting new people, especially ones that enhance my life experience.

I have a bad memory and forget things I really should remember. I can be selfish. I am a chronic procrastinator. I can be moody. I suck at winter and home ownership. I can go weeks without speaking to you. Know that I know, truly appreciate what you mean to me, and know that it never, ever is forgotten.

To the people that matter, I say thank you. Thank you from every breath, every fiber, every thought, every word, and every essence of me. You are directly responsible for my penchant for ass-kicking. Thanks for reading, mentioning, alluding to, and humoring me while I blabber on about this blog.  Thanks for always listening, letting me vent, being there for me, for your unwavering support, love, and mostly for the comments you leave here on the blog (smiley face). Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I hope, in some small way, that sometimes I return the favor.

The best part about all of this?

I’m only getting started.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

I haven’t stepped behind the arc in a while.

1) Yesterday, the Hub was abuzz with pictures of Tom Brady canoodling with Gisele Bundchen.

Wait, what?

Did I just use the word “canoodling” in a sentence? What does that even mean? Honestly, who really cares about this stuff? It’s the off-season and there isn’t going to be any football played until late summer. Let the guy canoodle (ok, I’m liking this word now) and heal in peace.  Furthermore, if I was dating Gisele, I would have no problem with my picture being posted doing anything, anywhere with her. Seriously.

2) I was watching the FOX25 news last night and they had some scary weather statistics:

Yesterday’s storm put Boston over 20” of snow during December-January for only the third time since 1890. The only other two times were 1995-1996 (snowiest winter on record – 107.6”) and 1947-1948 (third snowiest winter on record – 89.2”). Both of those winters had above average snowfall through February and March.  Their force was also quite strong with La Nina (whatever that means) just like this winter.

This really doesn’t bode well for the winter of 2008-2009. It looks like we are only halfway home.  Pardon me while I search for airline flights headed towards the equator.

3)  Back to point one, I think anytime you put a woman the clothing of any of my favorite teams, it increases her “hotness” by a factor of at least 2.7 on the highly-scientific Truth About Mike scale.

Exhibit A, your honor:

Let’s canoodle!

(*swish*)

When my plane landed in Texas on Friday, I was astonished by the weather (7o nice). It has been such a miserable winter and I asked myself why I live in New England. I immediately threw on a pair of shorts and marveled at the snow-free ground. It felt like I was cheating the seasons.

Last night, I had some plans to meet up with a friend for drinks. She had a family issue come up and asked if we could reschedule. I actually didn’t mind because I’ve been exhausted from the trip and really could have used a night to relax. Plus, the Bruins were on and had a big game against the second best team in the Eastern Conference, the Washington Capitals. I was so looking forward to curling up on the couch and watching the puck fly all around the Garden ice.

At 4:23pm yesterday, I got a text from my friend Maverick:

“I know it is last second, but do you have any interest in going to the B’s tonight.”

The first thing that popped into my head was Washington’s Alex Ovechkin, the reigning league MVP and one of the best players in the league. I also thought of how I tired I was and how I was looking forward to staying in for the night. Ovechkin and the B’s won out and less than an hour later, Maverick and I were in the car heading towards the city.

Maverick is probably the biggest Bruins fan I know. He made sure we had a TV to watch the Bruins game during the tailgate of the 2007 AFC Championship. He is a Bruins season ticket holder and hasn’t missed a game yet. As of last night, he didn’t intend to. Part of the joy in watching sports for me is seeing how happy it makes my friends. If they root for different teams than me and they aren’t playing each other, my friends’ teams become mine. Sometimes I find myself rooting harder for their teams then my own.

He ended up showing me a neat little spot in Charlestown where he parks for each game. After parking, we walked along the Charles River Basin atop some moveable walkways. During this walk, I got a new view of the city and great look at the Zakim Bridge (one of my favorite “new” Boston landmarks, as pictured in my new banner). I liked the view so much, I snapped the picture above with my phone. It’s rare when you can get a new perspective on a place that is so familiar. Everything old was new again.

The best part of the night was the game. His seats were fantastic and the game was action-packed. The game ended in overtime when David Krejci scored to lead the B’s to their first win of the season over the second best team in the conference. Surprisingly, the player I most wanted to see (Ovechkin) was a non-factor in the game. Watching the passion my companion followed the game with and his interaction with all his season ticket holder friends around him only enhanced the experience.

Elsewhere there would be no last minute calls/texts/emails seeing if I wanted to go to the Sox/Pats/C’s/B’s game. There’s no other place where I have a higher concentration of family, friends and people that matter. There is no foliage, funny accents, bad drivers and abrasive (until you get to know them) personalities. There is no spot at the end of Long Wharf where I love to sit and look out at the harbor. There’s not many views of a city like the one on Memorial Drive at the Mass Ave. intersection. There is no Good Harbor Beach nor a Point Gammon Light.  There are no hotties lounging around in Post Office Square at lunchtime on nice days.  There is no Woodman’s, Santarpio’s, Santoro’s, Buff’s Pub or Fenway Park. There are no fall Sundays spent tailgating at the Blade. (I say all this as I am waking up to another snowstorm in a town that has already exhausted its 2008-2009 snow removal budget.)

Whenever I am in an airport on the way home from wherever, I always smile to myself when I get to the gate and see “Boston” illuminated on sign above the ticket counter.

For me, there really is no better feeling.

BIRTHDAY MONTH ALERT: Happy Birthday, Moe!

Usually, this would be a day when I wouldn’t write.  I’m overtired from the Texas trip and I just got in from a great night out at Redbones.  However, I’ve taken some grief when I take days off.  Who knew that I could ever become part of people’s routines?

So (for now), I’m going to try and post something every weekday.  Keri was the first to mention it and then I heard it from others.  I started last week and I realized that I can’t write that much every week.  It’s amazing to me that I write as much as I do.  “Verbal diarrhea” was a perfect phrase used to describe one of the many methods of my madness.

Today’s idea comes from Red and it is my inaugural “Thought of the Day” (a.k.a. “mailing it in”).  This quote comes from Rainer Maria Rilke, the same poet who provided the quote in Friday’s entry.  After doing some googling of Rilke, I found out that he had an inordinate amount of great quotes.  He’s probably going to be featured a lot in my “Thought of the Day” entries.

Without further ado…

A person isn’t who they are during the last conversation you had with them – they’re who they’ve been throughout your whole relationship.

I think this quote is simply fantastic.  It could really help in all the stupid disagreements we have with people.  It makes me think how much of a waste of time they really are.

Happy Tuesday, everyone.

I just got back from Houston and my cousin’s wedding. You’d think my blog entry today would consist of my usual maudlin musings about how great it was to see family, how beautiful the ceremony and reception both were and how it was important to remember times like these, blah blah blah. While all of that is very true, your normal Truth About Mike blog entry has to be preempted and there is a very good reason for this.

Over the weekend, I was made aware of the greatest invention in the history of mankind. This invention is called Just a Drop (I triple dog dare you to try to watch the video on this link without laughing – check out the testimonials as well). Per the website it is a “personal, bathroom odor eliminator.” It also says that if you drop one drop of this anti-poop elixir into the toilet bowl before you go, 98% of the odor will be eliminated before it escapes into the air.

Think of how this stuff can change lives. Now, you can pretty much poop anywhere without fear of embarrassment or repercussion. Dormitories, offices, public places and even homes will all be odor free because of it. I wish I was in charge of marketing this stuff. “Poop without fear” and “Easy elimination” or “Shame-free stool” would be some of the catch phrases I’d use.

I first heard about this miraculous invention on Saturday. My cousin Jo remembered that he had some in his bag. I was full of questions and Jo revealed that he had used it in the morning to diffuse a “deposit” my cousin Tony (a.k.a. T-Lo) had made in the room. Of course, I was skeptical but the possibilities raced through my mind like a freight train. I simply could not wait to take the “poop challenge” when we got back to hotel.

When we returned, I demanded that we test out “Just a Drop.” Our first guinea pig was Kid Spin (pictured on the right in my facebook link). He is notorious for producing some serious odors when it comes to sit-down sessions in the bathroom. Kid Spin was the perfect first test case for this most genius invention.

As pictured here, my cousin Jo did the honors. He dropped a few drops of “Just a Drop” into the bowl. Kid Spin grabbed a book, entered the bathroom and began to do work. I was nervous, excited and anxious to see what would happen. Could it be real? Would this stuff really work? How much of his book was he actually going to read?

After what seemed like an eternity, he finished up and flushed. He exited the bathroom and closed the door behind him with a “cat that ate the canary” grin on his face. After all, it isn’t often when you can get to poop for an audience. He admitted that he didn’t think it worked. Seconds seemed like hours as we determined who would be the some to give the bathroom the smell test. I didn’t want to do it for several reasons: A) I knew the talent Kid Spin possessed when it came to these matters and B) I didn’t know if I could hide my disappointment if it didn’t work. My cousin Tony volunteered to take one for the team and check it out.

Slowly, Tony opened the bathroom door.  The odor from the bathroom must have escaped quickly because it was so strong he fell to the ground (this may have been for effect). “Just a Drop” had failed and all of my hopes and dreams about the product had been dashed in one semi-quick sitting.

I felt betrayed. I knew that it was too good to be true. Still, my cousin Jo insisted that it was a good product. He surmised that maybe it was the alcohol content in Kid Spin’s deposit, or that he took too long on the throne. With my hopes dashed, I decided to try it out for myself. Again, the experiment failed and I hung my head in shame. I was so angry that I wanted to toss that tiny bottle of liquid failure into the Gulf of Mexico.

Yesterday morning, we decided to give it another go. We theorized that my attempt have have been compromised from Kid Spin’s heroic effort in the bowl. By waiting until the next day, we’d have a clean slate (so to speak) to try again. This time, Tony did the honors. After he was done, I went into the bathroom and took a hard, long sniff.

Surprisingly, I didn’t smell a thing. It smelled like chemicals. I took another whiff and still had the same result. I ran out of the bathroom and high-fived Tony with the enthusiasm of Tom Brady after a touchdown. The product had worked and I believed again. I tested it again and we had the same result. The odor had been neutralized.

After all of this, we came to two conclusions:

1) Kid Spin is a poop-superhero. All he is missing is a cape.
2) When used, “Just a Drop” has a better than average chance of changing your life.

Don’t leave home without it.

“A good marriage is that in which each appoints the other guardian of his solitude.”

- Rainer Maria Rilke

This weekend I’m off to my cousin Heather’s wedding. I’m excited about the prospect of leaving the frozen tundra otherwise known as New England for warmer pastures. I’m also excited about is that it is the first wedding in a long while I can go to without the “feelings of cringe” I’ve had since my divorce. These “feelings of cringe” culminated when I’d go to a wedding and hear the vows:

“…..to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.”

I could never sit through wedding vows comfortably with these feelings in my head. I’d look down or away and try and supress those thoughts – but they always came back. What once was the best part of a wedding, became the part I looked forward to the least. What made it worse is that I go to a lot of weddings. People tell me this all the time. I don’t know if it is true or not.

The last part of the vows was always the killer (pun intended) to me. I looked my parents and closest confidants (the two guys I was closest to in high school and college) and between the five of us, we have all been divorced. As a divorcee I always wondered: When the divorce rate is over 50%, how is “until death do us part” possible?  How is it even realistic? Why were worse, poorer, and sickness winning out in so many marriages? Why did marriage seem like a losing proposition everywhere I looked?

Today, those feelings are gone and I’m not exactly sure when it happened. It was probably a combination of events that precipitated this change. I began to believe again in the institution of marriage. My cynicism evaporated, faded away and I was back to my old Pollyannic-self. My beliefs returned.

Here’s what I believe: I believe that it is possible for two people to fulfill those vows mentioned above. I believe it’s possible that you can find someone that you are so lock step with that they see though your bullsh*t and truly understand the crux of your existence. I believe it is wrong to settle for anything less.  I believe the genuine article exists and that it can’t be faked.  I also believe finding the genuine article is very rare.  I believe when it is discovered it has to be preserved and cherished.

I believe all of this (again) because I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it in couples I have associated with. I’ve seen quickly exchanged glances that reveal bonds that have taken years to develop. I’ve seen the look when one speaks about the other. I’ve heard couples complete each other’s sentences. I’ve watched as moments of shmoopy evolved into moments of sincerity. I’ve felt that passion and witnessed that aura. Every time I see it, it reaffirms my beliefs that these types of connections are real and do exist. I’m like Bobby Brady after his “Millicent moment” in that regard.

Heather and Mikey, I wish all of those things for you. I also wish you health, happiness and a wonderful marriage together.

Most of all, I wish you guys a lifetime of guarding each other’s solitude.

Congratulations.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Rutherford Ranch Cab Sauv, oh how I love thee.

I hate grocery shopping.

I probably would rather be anywhere on Earth than in a grocery store. I feel like it’s a big waste of time. I don’t know where anything is and I’m less than skilled in the culinary arts. Grocery stores are literal (ok, figurative) kryptonite to the brilliantly sublime aura that radiates off of me everywhere I go…. except grocery stores. This B.S. aura is something I take pride in and something that is rooted into the very depths of my soul.  Furthermore, it makes up the very essence of me.

I’d like to think of myself as an outgoing, fun-loving Earth citizen who watches and embraces the world around him with wonder. When placed in the modern-day cornucopia of unprepared foods otherwise known as a grocery store, I become just the opposite. I become a lost, shy, introverted, disgrace of a human being who becomes miserable at the thought of trying to find bacon in the dairy section. When I see people I know in a grocery store, I’ll turn and walk the other way. Anywhere else, I’m tripping over whatever is in my way just to say hello.

A few weeks ago, I ran into someone I was supposed to know (my 36 year old memory has begun to betray me) and did everything but hide under the produce rack to avoid her glance. Still, I was spotted and was subject to that oh so hollow greeting that grocerial (I’m running with this) acquaintances are required to exchange. I still don’t know who the hell it was. If you’ve seen me in a grocery store and I didn’t say hello, know that it wasn’t a slight, but a direct result of the mind-altering effects grocery stores have on me.

Last night, I stopped into my local Shaw’s to grab some dinner and snacks for the “Lost” premiere. Shaw’s is probably the most expensive grocery store in Pleasantville, but it is on the way home – so it is where I end up most of the time. For me, convenience always trumps sanity when it comes to grocery shopping. I justify this by the bright orange Shaw’s rewards card that sits in my wallet like a scarlet letter of shame. The shame it represents is my complete lack of interest and skill at grocery shopping.

I found a parking spot and as I pull in, a song on the radio I like comes on. Of course, I can’t enter the grocery without listening to the song. I avoid looking like a complete grocerial stalker to the person in the next car waiting, by pretending to play with my iPhone. The irony here is that I put on this charade for a person who looks like a grocerial stalker himself; as he was waiting alone in a running parked car. (As you can see, the kryptonite-esque effect of a grocery store takes effect before I even enter.) The song ends and I walk into my personal house of horrors only to realize that I parked in a handicapped spot. The markings on the pavement were obscured by the slush and the sand used to clear the lot. I pretend not to see it thinking to myself that I’ll only be a minute.

Of course, I wasn’t only a minute. I enter the godforsaken place without a clue of what I want. Even if I knew what I was going to buy, I wouldn’t have any idea where I could find it. I immediately make a bee-line for the newspaper stand to look for the “Inaugural Edition” of the Boston Globe. After seeing the $2.00 price tag (for a total of four pages), I realize that even if I bought it, I would never read it anyways. I wish I knew it was $.50 per page before I unsuccessfully looked for it in four places on Tuesday night. It would have saved me some time.

I head towards the frozen foods section and I again see someone I think I should know. She smiles but I make a quick turn up the aisle to avoid contact. We run into each other again, she smiles again and asks if my name is Mike. Surprised, I tell her it is and she tells me she’s the wife of a guy I went to high school with. She recognized me because my picture/profile comes up on her “People You May Know” area on Facebook. Still reeling from this most unlikely of ways to meet, we exchange pleasantries about the weather and other menial topics that two complete strangers fill awkward conversation time with. She was very nice and pleasant, and I assured her I’d “friend” her to get off the “People You May Know” list.

Just an aside here, I have blogged about and often think about the effects of Web 2.0. We’re out there in ways we never thought of. Just a few years ago, I would have completely ridiculed the idea of meeting someone just because were indirectly connected via a social website. We still don’t completely understand the full ramifications of Web 2.0, but I digress…

It takes me way longer than it should to pick up a bunch of random, easy-to-make items and run into my neighbor Tim. Again, I exchange those same pleasantries about the weather and about how we both paid the same neighborhood kids to shovel our driveways.  We bemoaned the fact that we to had to do it again ourselves in the morning. I hold my basket behind me as we talk, shielding the poor grocerial choices I made and this is a direct result of my supermarket insecurities.

I run into Tim again at the automated registers. I always use them whenever I can. I like to have as little human interaction as possible while I gather up my items. I’m like a ritualistic hunter in that regard. I don’t need some Shaw’s employee judging my lack of bargain hunting skills and/or the nutritional content of my haul. As Tim makes a joke about not hiding stuff in my pockets, and I mistakenly hit the “Espanol” button on the automated cashier. He probably thinks I’m bilingual now.

I pay for my purchases and leave as quickly as possible so I can remove kryptonite’s grip. It takes one last swipe as me as I slip on the ice near my car.

It was a fitting ending to yet another unsuccessful grocerial episode.

Lost: I wanted to write a quick reminder that “Lost” returns to ABC tonight. It is my second favorite show. Last season (Season 4) of “Lost” is quite possibly the best single season of any television show I’ve ever watched. My favorite episode last season was “The Constant.”

For you “Lost” junkies: The two best places I’ve found for episode recaps are Erika Olson’s blog, Long Live Locke (also in my blogroll on the right) and the Entertainment Weekly website. Erika actually posted a good season preview yesterday and in a bizzare twist, today is actually her birthday. Check ‘em out.

Found: From the “I’m not talking about politics here for a while after this” department:

Watching the inauguration yesterday was almost everything I had hoped it would be. At first, I was worried about how I was going to see the festivities. My company has the internet so locked down that we can’t access most websites. Monday, my co-worker Ron (a staunch Republican, mind you) told everyone he would be bringing in a TV.

Yesterday, for about 30 minutes, most of our office was huddled around a rabbit-eared 9” TV set propped up in a window sill. We sat (mostly) in silence together, watching our 44^th president being sworn in and witnessing that unbelieveable scene in Washington. It was one of those surreal “where where you when” moments that I’ll never forget.

Because I am a public-speaking junkie, I was really excited to hear what Obama had to say after being sworn in. Surprisingly, after the speech I was underwhelmed. He has set the bar so high as an orator, that (to me) his first official act didn’t live up to the expectations I had for the speech. I say this knowing full well that I posted just yesterday that Obama wouldn’t live up to expectations.

I decided to give the speech another listen when I got home. I read the text before re-watching the speech. I liked it much better the second time, but I think it actually reads better than it sounds (if that makes any sense). After taking a closer look at the speech, I found what I was hoping for in it.

I especially like the last paragraph and how Obama echoed George Washington’s words and applied them to the challenges our country faces today. What is past is most definitely prologue.

Enjoy the show.

“We have to go back!”

BIRTHDAY MONTH ALERT: Happy Birthday, Phil!

“We ain’t ready to see a black President” – Tupac Shakur

This is a historic week.

Today, Barack Obama gets sworn in as the 44^th President of the United States. His inauguration marks a new chapter and a new era for our country. I am both excited and hopeful for this historic event. My TiVo is set and reading my friend Beau’s great blog entry from yesterday made me think about getting in the car and driving to DC.

A (slightly) less significant event happens on Friday, when a new Chipolte opens near my office. Chipolte is a burrito chain that I first tried out in the Midwest. Finding a decent burrito in the Northeast has been almost as difficult as electing a black man president. It will be a direct strike against the boredom I have with the lunch options in my area. As I drove by, I saw a sign that said they are giving away free burritos on Thursday. Change has truly come to America.

Yesterday, the Chipolte fairy stopped by my office and dropped off some passes for their pre-pre-opening on Wednesday. They are doing this in an attempt to butter up the neighbors and generate excitement for the new restaurant. It is actually sad and pathetic that I find all of this exciting. Barack Obama has been assigned the task of leading our country out of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression and here I am celebrating a new burrito joint.

Obama’s inauguration has me hopeful for the future. Admittedly, it is almost a near certainty that Barack Obama will never live up to the expectations that have been set for him. From the sounds of his most fervent supporters, on his first day he will be able to turn the faltering economy around, fix college football’s broken playoff system and get me a date with Minka Kelly all with a few strokes of his pen. It just isn’t going to happen. One thing we can realistically hope is that things during the next four years will be better than the last eight. This is where my hope lies today.

One thing I am really looking forward to during the beginning of Obama’s presidency is the naysayers. They will try and discredit his presidency within hours (perhaps minutes) after his hand leaves Lincoln’s bible. I can just hear it now, “I thought Obama was supposed to fix everything. I thought he was the Messiah.” It will happen a lot in the first weeks/months of Obama’s presidency and it will be a new source of entertainment for me.

A new president and a new burrito joint, all in the same week. Change has come in the form of rice, meat and beans rolled up in a tortilla and a Hawaiian-born man who made history.  Obama will make mistakes and Chipolte will make bad burritos.  Hopefully, the good outweighs the bad.

Pac, I think we’re ready. I know I am.

Good luck, Mr. President. Your election has given me hope that things can be better in America. We’ve done our part in the voting booths, now it is up to you to do yours.

I’ll be watching along and hoping for nothing but the best.

Meanwhile, pass the sour cream.

BIRTHDAY MONTH ALERT: Happy Birthday, Jenni!

My brother’s girlfriend coaches the basketball cheerleaders at Lexington High School. Because of this, he went to some games and recommended that I check one out. When he said this, I was skeptical. The only things I knew about Lexington basketball were that they were a Metco school and when I was in school they had a kid named Lloyd Mumford. Mumford was the first kid my age whom I saw dunk in a high school game. I had no real connection to the school (or the sport), so I didn’t take my brother up on the offer.

My brother mentioned it again and I decided to check a game out just to see what the fuss was all about. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed it. The game was faster and much more competitive than I remembered. It was a nice contrast to all of the professional sports I had been watching. Lexington also happens to be one of the stronger teams in the Middlesex League. They went undefeated that season up until losing in the playoffs to Central Catholic.

After that loss, we were hooked. We’ve gone back to games the past two seasons. I liked it so much that I even went to non-Lexington playoff games that first year. It’s not just the game itself, but it is the whole scene that is enjoyable to me: the play, the screaming students in the stands, the foot-stomping coaches and even the overzealous parents are all sources of entertainment at these games.

The kids who were sophomores when we first started going are now seniors and we’ve watched them grow up on the court before our eyes. The faces in the stands have become familiar and I feel like an adopted member of their community. I’ve even found myself yelling at the refs like one of those parents I would laugh at when I first started going to games.

I’m not really sure what the appeal is. Maybe it is because I can pretty much watch any sport and be entertained. Maybe I was surprised at the skill these kids have at their age. I’d never say it to my buddies who played on the team, but I sure don’t remember the kids being this good back when I was in school. Most likely, it was time I get to spend with my brother. This is the best part of the whole Lexington High School basketball experience for me.

After the debacle that shall remain nameless (a.k.a. the football game on 2/3/2008), I wondered why I even watch sports. I wondered why I commit myself each game, each week and each season. I wondered why I let my mood be determined by a bunch of overpaid strangers who most likely don’t give a damn about me. When your team loses 17-14 in such gut-wrenching fashion, you question those things.

The first sporting event I watched (live or otherwise) after that game was a Lexington basketball game. Per usual, I went with my brother and watching that game reminded me why I love sports so much: seeing those kids give everything they had, throwing themselves all over the court, and working together for a victory. One game after that heart-breaking loss, I was back on the sports train and ready for more heartbreak.

Sometimes you will find joy in the most unexpected of places. Sometimes it is in a place like the hot and stuffy Lexington High School gymnasium. When you find that joy you have to keep going back.

You never know how long it will last or where or when you will find it again.