She pulled into the dark parking lot and parked her car. She got out, helped her little girl with her toys, grabbed hold of her daughter's hand and walked quickly towards the gym.
It was a cold night.
When she entered the gym, the warm, stagnate air hit her in the face. She stepped inside and left the cold and the darkness behind her as the heavy door slammed shut.
Making her way through the crowds, she found a seat in the bleachers. She took off her jacket, helped her daughter get out her coloring book and crayons, looked around and smiled casually at the other parents and then turned toward the court and waited for the game to begin.
The basketball players were on the court, warming up.
She caught the attention of one of her daughters and waved. Her daughter smiled. And then she met eyes with her other daughter and she smiled as well.
The girls were ready.
The mother was anxious.
The buzzer sounded loudly, high on the cinder block wall and ... the game began.
The mother watched and cheered. She clapped her hands and yelled as loudly as she could possibly yell. She even put her fingers to her mouth and whistled. She hushed her little daughter when her daughter complained that she was being to loud. The woman was not alone in the gym, but she felt only her own joy and excitement.
And then ... the mother suddenly began to lose sight of the game. Her eyes were on the ball and the score board and on the players ... but her thoughts began to wander.
Her vision became blurred and all noise became muffled and the motion of the crowds and players, slowed ... as if a dream.
She was still very aware, only it was not of scores or passes or shots. It was not of rebounds or fouls or offensive plays. What she could see ... the only thing she could suddenly see was ... her girls.
She watched as they picked up their feet and they ... ran with all of their might.
She watched as they leaped high into the air and ... they soared like birds on the wind.
She watched as they would fall to the ground and then manage to ... rise up again.
She watched their quick feet and their strong arms and the gallant strides of their muscular legs.
She admired their steady hands and able bodies and their stoic faces ... oh, their beautiful faces.
She saw how they used their... quick minds.
The woman had gone to the game - to see ... the game.
What she saw ... was her children.
Her daughters.
The twins she had always been so very proud of.
What she felt was ... pride and admiration.
And ... love.
When the game ended, the woman looked across the court and she saw her two girls gathering their things. Before she stepped out of the door, she looked back one last time and her daughters were both looking in her direction - searching for her eyes. She smiled.
The woman was so proud that these two girls were her children - that she had brought these two wonderful girls into the world for all to see ... for all to enjoy ... for all to love. She was so very proud.
