Sunday Night with John: The Gift of Larry Johnson

Opening up my wedding party gift, I didn’t know what to expect. My friend Scotty is a rather odd guy. He has won the ultimate Minnesota Twins Fan contest; he has a green garland and silver tinsel suit complete with blinking lights that he has worn to a company dinner.  And once wore a cheerleader outfit to a college basketball game to cheer on our friend Braden. To be fair to Scotty, I was wearing a homemade Viking helmet and the ultimate Warrior face paint.  You could say, Scotty was my partner in crime when it came to being ridiculous.

I never fathomed that I would open up my gift and find a signed picture of Larry Johnson, my favorite childhood basketball player of the Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks.  At age 31, Larry Johnson stills plays a part of my life.  It is amazing how certain interactions, loves, memories, and people can plant roots in our lives.

Larry Johnson was drafted in ‘92 and I became my childhood hero.  He was fast, could dunk, and occasionally dressed up as a grandma for a commercial to sell shoes, and was coined Grandmamma. The first cool thing that happened in my life with Larry, was when my mom gave me his jersey as a Christmas gift as well as the Hornets pullover Starter jacket. The next Christmas, my dad and mom bought ten tickets to the Cavs game when the Hornets were in town so I could watch my hero.  Years later, my love for NBA basketball would be cemented by a Larry Johnson four-point play that won a playoff game. I ran around a childhood friend’s house in joy. 

It spread into my college years as conversations over who your favorite player was, transpired between friends and we exchanged stories over which starter jackets we had. Larry Johnson had found a way for me to make new friends in my early twenties long after his playing days. I found both Larry Johnson Charlotte jerseys I owned. My mom packed them away for me. I ended up wearing them in intramural basketball games in college, which lead to our whole team unearthing their childhood jerseys to wear with me.

There are certain moments, people, and items in life that tend to resonate with us for years. We remember were we where, the people around us, a song that was on the radio, the shirt we were wearing, and the emotions we felt.  We have many of these moments that happen to us over the years that become woven into the fabric of how we define ourselves.  These moments grow roots in our brains, spread to other relationships through conversations and interactions and begin to multiply memories and healthy emotions over the years.  

It would have been easy to share a painful moment, as they seem to feel more gripping. The fact is, happy moments can be just as powerful, if we let them.  Allowing ourselves to carry happy, hopeful childhood memories and creating happy and hopeful moments for children can lead to a 31 one year opening a gift that sent me down memory lane.  Opening up that gift made me think of my mom, my dad, of moments where I yelled out in joy, and reminded me life is great.

From 1992 to 2013, Larry Johnson, a man I have never met, has shaped many of my great life moments. It shows we really have no idea who, and what from our past we will carry with us into our future.

The wedding gift that inspired today's blog