[truerookie]

Originally Posted by Coltdoggs

Back in December of 2000, I was in my first year...It was 2:00 on a Saturday and I was about to toss the ball for tip off when my wife walked in the gym....It was odd that she showed up because she never comes to the games I officiate...She was there to tell me that my dad had suffered a massive heart attack....Obviously I had to leave the gym and the guy I was working with ended up working the game by himself (kids rec league, so not a huge deal). My dad was pronounced dead at 2:34..he was 64 years old....Although we lived 10 minutes from each other...he was 2 hours away near Cincy at a Riverboat and passed away at a hospital down there and I didn't get to see him that day...I had seen him the day before but just "in passing" as I stopped at his house to pick something up and was gone in a flash without much conversation....

Over the course of the next week getting all his funeral arrangements and the funeral itself and thinking I wasted the last chance I had to see him.... I contemplated if I could actually go back on a court to officiate because I was there when I got the news...I ended up taking the next weekend off from doing games....2 weeks later I took the court again with a heavy heart but I knew I had "my partner" with me in spirit and that my dad would have wanted me to keep pressing on. That in itself kept my head where it needed to be.

Although my dad has never seen me officiate a game in person in 7+ seasons, he takes the court with me everytime I step out there. I agree with others that you can "escape" by taking the court...I've really learned how to tune everything outside the court out and focus on the 10 kids on the court and the 2 coaches I have that day...

Great input!! This example cited keeps everything in perspective.