There are times when some of us who have acquired a mobility disability will stop and remember what is was like when we were abled bodied. No I don’t mean the every day occurrence of trying to remember what it was like without pain or lack of mobility. I mean thinking back and savoring moments that defined who we once were. The freedom of moving around unrestricted, without giving it a second thought. The freedom of bouncing up from a lying down position without having to think about how you are going to do it for 3-4 minute. Those of you who have acquired a mobility disability later on in life know exactly what I am talking about.

I have been mobility disabled for about 6 years now and I never been so reminded of the time before my disability than at specific times during the last couple of months. My oldest son is a freshman in high school. He is also a pretty good basketball player and he was fortunate enough to make the varsity basketball team. I have always been a basketball junky. Growing up, I played all the time. I was the ultimate jock. Also, I played in leagues up to the point that I became disabled about six years ago.

How cool I thought, that I was going to follow my son and his team through the season. Honestly, I was biting at the bit for the season to start. I often thought if I was living vicariously through my son because of my disability. Quite honestly, I didn’t care if I was. His enthusiasm spun mine and my enthusiasm spun his.

Fortunately, he is a good player. He began the season starting at the point guard position and he got major playing time. All the better for me as I watched and cheered from the sidelines.

The team had great success as they finished the season 25 and 5 and they won their divisional crown in San Diego Ca. There were many good athletes on that team. For that matter, there were many good athletes on most teams. It wasn’t like when I went to high school. There were maybe one or two athletes. Today, these kids are in shape. They work out year round preparing themselves for the next season. If they don’t, they will fall behind the other kids.

Kids today are stronger, quicker and smarter than my generation was growing up. If you remember, in the 70’s, we didn’t play a sport year round. We played only in season. Now, there are clubs that allow the kids to play year round. If the kids don’t do that, they fall behind and potentially loose their spot on the team.

I was taken by the athletic ability of many of these high school children. The more I saw their agility, strength, quickness and desire, the more I realized how much I have lost having a mobility disability.

Towards the end of the season and into the playoffs, I truly began to miss being able to play sports like I used to. Hey! I’m not naïve, I know that at age 45 that I couldn’t do what I did at age 25. It was the fact that I can’t do anything. I missed not being able to compete in a sport.

I started to day- dream of the time when I was younger playing basketball. My mind drifted back to the days when I was playing school-yard ball. The one-on-one and the three-on- three games. We would play all day long. From dawn to dusk. I remembered how wonderful it felt to play hard and be without pain. Being free to fly around the court abusing my body by playing for hours and hours. At that point in my life, I remember going through a pair of sneakers every week. Those were wonderful times. To bad I didn’t fully appreciate them at the time. Like every other young and abled bodied person took it for granted.