The Sun Will Rise

The final shot falls through the net and my heart stops.  I couldn't speak, I couldn't think, I couldn't do anything.  It was a heartbreaker and I could barely watch the TV as they show the devastated and defeated looks of Paige, Johnson, and the rest of the UNC team.  I loved this team and have the utmost respect for the players and coaches.  It has been a rough few years in Chapel Hill and these boys toughed it out when many wouldn't or didn't.  It was not supposed to end this way for them.  I was supposed to see my team cut down the nets.  I was supposed to see my team smiling ear to ear.  I was supposed to see my team with the last shot on One Shining Moment. My Dad reminded us all that tomorrow the sun will rise.  

The sun will rise in Cary, NC.  The sun will rise in Atlanta, GA.  The sun will rise in Denham Springs, LA.  The sun will rise in Ventura, CA.  These were all the locations my family watched the game.  Far apart, but together through a group text.  A Tar Heel family, born and bred.

It brought me back to Saturdays and Sundays when we watched the games growing up.  In the younger years my Dad letting my sisters and I put barrettes in his hair to see how long he can keep us entertained by the game.  The days when the only acceptable cursing was "Go to hell Duke" at the end of the Carolina fight song.  As we started playing sports, Erin and I would settle in and do our basketball camp homework by pointing out different skills we learned at camp.  Having to have a say in the conversation, one time I looked at my Dad and said, "That's a hooker!".  My Dad looks at me and explains that it's a hook shot, not to be confused with a hooker. A hooker isn't a word I should use.  There was the loss Kasey and I witnessed in the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament while we were on spring break with Mom in Louisiana.  We watched as our team went to the NCAA tournament multiple times and win the championship in 2005 and 2009.  As Adam Lucas points out in his article "Proud", we are so very lucky we have the opportunity to see our team excel so often.  Of course there is the highlight of going to the UNC-Duke game with my Dad and watching UNC win.  (Thanks Mom for letting me enjoy that!).

Wow, what memories to relive.  So many articles reference how close the Carolina family is and this team is just beginning their journey with this family.  I am so glad that I have my own Carolina family and will (in a very long time) look back and remember the day we all watched the UNC-Villanova game together in 4 different states.  When Erin sent the picture of Dad hiding under the blanket.  When Kasey commented about putting on her old jersey.  When Uncle Mark put his own Louisiana spin on Geaux Tar Heels.  When the jokes rolled about Mom being nervous and going to bed before the second half.

The sun did rise today. As I ran along the orange groves, I looked out at the Carolina blue sky covering the California mountains and remembered that it's always a GDTBATH!