It is amazing what bouncing a ball can do for one’s spirit. I do not mean a little ball that fits in your hand or a basketball that can be dribbled over and over. I mean a large blue ball with green lines that you often find in K-Mart in one of those cages. That wonderful blue, bouncing toy helped me more than I could ever imagine.
This past week, month, beginning of the year has been rough. Not just for me but for so many people. In late January, we lost a friend and colleague. Only a week later, we received a call letting us know that our nephew was no longer with us. We traveled through a whirlwind weekend in order to get back to be with the family. Words cannot express those two weeks.
Then this past week, we watched in horror as the shooting in Florida took place. While we were not physically involved with that incident, since my wife and I work in education that hit home for us. It came back to us as plans were reviewed and checked. We listened to news story after news story where they talked about school shootings and said, “Not if, but when.” Then for other reasons, the last two days of the week brought other issues and stresses with them.
Add to all of this just the normal day to day life. We are a Girl Scout family deep in the sales of cookies and boothings. Our daughter is on a basketball team and has practice and games. In other words – for the last two months – LIFE HAPPENED! It is just that sometimes life can seem like this big weight just pushing down and getting heavier.
Even with all of this, I still consider myself very lucky and fortunate. I have a beautiful wife, a wonderful child, a challenging job to go to every day, a home, and so much more. However, come Saturday morning, I was sitting in a self-pity party. The worst part was that I did not want to be there, and yet no ladder was visible.
Then today happened. Our daughter had a friend come last night for a sleep over. I woke expecting to find them awake, but they were still out. I sat in silence drinking coffee. I did not turn on the television, I did not look at Facebook, I did not boot up my computer to work. I just sat and let peace happen around me. One of our cats rubbed against my leg and the other jumped into my lap and laid down (something she normally does not do).
Once the girls rose it was time for breakfast. I did something different and poured a ton of sprinkles into the batter. You would have thought that I handed them gold. “SPRINKLES!!!!!!!”, came the shout followed by giggles as chocolate syrup covered the pancakes. Healthy – maybe not.
Later the girls actually asked to go out on a hike. They wanted to go out in the 45-degree weather. A hunt was more like it since they were searching for the neighborhood peacocks. Our search did not take long before an entire family sat in front of us. The one male did not disappoint as it showed off his plumage.
Finally, the girls came home and wanted to play “handball” against our garage. This did not involve a little, hard ball, but instead big blue came to the rescue. Cold or not, they were out there swatting away at the ball, sending it hard against the door and back to them. They came in and invited me to play. Laughter, giggles, dancing, and jumping ensued for quite a while before our little friend’s mom pulled into the drive signaling an end to the visit.
The day started off nicely, but we had to get some work done. Our daughter offered to ride with me to accept a new delivery of cookies into the “cupboard”. What normally takes 10 minutes turned in to two hours as we had to move each box by hand instead of with the pallet jack. Our daughter sat there the whole time trying to keep herself busy but wondering how this little trip turned out to be never-ending. In the end, we moved everything, but the extra time with the truck cut out a couple of side stops for which she had been hoping. She was quiet the ride home.
Once we returned she walked in to find her blue friend waiting for her. She held it up to me with anticipation. I asked for 10 minutes to sit. She agreed, but her face told me her true feelings. After the ten minutes, the promise was kept.
The two of us went out into the drive and started hammering that ball against the door. We dodged each other, we side stepped, we played, and we enjoyed each other. While this was not a new game to me, it was the first day in which she asked to share it with me. For all she knew, she was teaching me something new, and I let it be.
I listened to her laughter as we played. I let her stop and look at the clouds and tell me about them. We just were.
That silly little ball that we have kicked around the backyard, that I have told her to remove from the living room, that has tripped me in the night, brought me the ladder that I needed. It brought me time with our daughter and it reminded me of why I do so much of what I do.
Today, I needed that little ball and the laughter of a child to bring joy back.
We all have those days, weeks, months, and, possibly, years. I pray that when it happens to you that you have a bright blue, bouncy ball to help you through.