Tourney Time
Honestly, I couldn't have scripted a better day. Near the top of my list of favorite places to be is at a high school basketball tournament, and it's even sweeter to be there as something of a participant - as a ref and assistant coach, in this case. Who could argue with six hours of wall-to-wall hoops with the best seats in the house? Even with a vested interest in the tournament's outcome, the beauty of the game trumps any anxiety about the score. Of course, I might be singing a different tune if Latin Beit Sahour's ladies hadn't walked off with the championship - and this after a redemptive victory over sworn enemy Latin Beit Jala in the final. The girls were thrilled, and this particular victory felt good for the soul.
And still the trophy wasn't the highlight for me. Rather, it was the reunion with some of my kids from Ramallah that really struck a chord. I'm not sure why, exactly, especially in light my hasty retreat last June and grim march back in August. Perhaps absence really has made the heart grow fonder, and the space between me and Al Ahliyyah College has helped crystallize how formative that experience was for me. It didn't hurt that this nostalgia-laced reunion was mutual, that the kids were thrilled to see me, too.
Of particular note was seeing Atta again, which meant the world to me. When last I saw him, he was one of my 10th graders, though not especially distinguished in the classroom. More than that, he was the man I battled on the court through so many practices and scrimmages. You just can't post up someone as often as Atta and I have each other without growing close. When I left Ramallah this past August, I never expected to see him again - ever. That thought was always a bit of a sour note in the symphony of my time in Palestine. I'm glad to have resolved that dissonance, and happier to have shared another day of hoops with him. Just like old times. Fitting, too.
There was a singular grace in this unexpected set of crossed paths. Strictly speaking, there is grace packed into every moment of every day, but rare are the ones you can appreciate for what they are as they are unfolding. I never played a big role in the lives of my students in Ramallah; there just wasn't enough time for that. Today, though, I learned that it was still a good one. I'm at ease leaving that humble, but positive, legacy at Al Ahliyyah.
Indeed, it's a fine way to be remembered anywhere.