The Return of Michael Jordan and Lewis

I left Centralia early this morning, driving in the pouring rain. Accompanied by the occasional thunder burst and lightning flash. It was a slow driving  kind of day. The sky, the road, the horizon were all gray. It was hard to decipher where one stopped and the other began.

As I drove along my mind went back to 1995 and the return of Michael Jordan to basketball.  Where this came from, I really don't know.  My muse probably was playing hoops with someone last night, who knows!!!  I thought about that game all the way home.  Around noon I took a nap and when I woke up, Michael Jordan was

still there. 

I checked out You Tube to see if what I remembered was accurate. I saw part of his return game but not all of it. It flooded my memory with that game, that afternoon and how odd the connections we have in this world.

I was at work, in a nursing home, when the basketball game of the year was about to begin... Michael Jordan was returning to the floor.  It was his first game. The large day room was filled with patients in various stages of life and death. That day, in our day room, all anyone had on their mind was basketball.  There was excitement in the air.  There was also grumbling.  Some people thought he shouldn't come back after he had retired. Most people couldn't wait to watch him play again.

I was one of the ones who could not wait for the game to start. Next to Melodi Carter, my daughter,  Michael Jordan will always be my favorite basketball player. Watching him was pure magic. I have to admit I was a little nervous about his return.  He told the press on March 18,1995  "I'm baaack".  On March 19,1995 he played his first return game on the court of the Indiana Pacers, in Indianapolis.

As game time approached, I sat down by one of my favorite patients, Lewis.  Lewis suffered from old age and depression.  He had not spoken to anyone in a year.  He ate, took his shower, his medicine but he had no affect, no emotions just a blank face. Wherever he was, he was not happy.  I had known him for years and when he was talking I would ask him questions about the depression.  He said it was worse than being dead or in Hell. He told me I could not fathom how horrible it was. I believed him.

Lewis was beginning to come out of his year long  imprisonment.  He wasn't animated yet. He had spoken a few words during the past week. Had smiled once and his eyes had a light in them that had not been there before, as he was getting ready to watch the ballgame.

He actually chuckled when Michael Jordan was introduced as "the other guard".  We all laughed. The Pacer's announcers  were trying to down play Michael's return---as if they could.

As Jordan took to the floor, my hands began to sweat. I was nervous for him.  He took a shot and missed. They raced up and down the court. He took another shot and missed. Then another and another...all close but no basket.  Tension was mounting in the arena and the day room. The announcer was rambling on and on about maybe Michael Jordan's return was a mistake.  He made some reference to the fact that perhaps during the year and a half he had been off, perhaps he had lost his edge.  That remark caused Lewis to say quietly, almost to himself,  "He hasn't lost anything---he is back"  I was so excited to hear a sentence from Lewis.  It looked like to me that Lewis might also be back as well, at least for awhile.

If I am not mistaken, Michael Jordan missed his first nine shots before he connected with the most beautiful 3 pointer I have ever seen.  The auditorium erupted, so did the day room.  We were all on our feet and yelling.  The nurse came running to see what was going on.  We all settled down and so did the auditorium. The game was on.  Jordan went on to score 19 points during that game.  

Lewis even cheered.  He talked and he talked for another year almost none stop and then the depression hit him again. Dragging him down to the depths of whatever pit he often called home.

Watching Michael Jordan's return was awesome. Watching Lewis' return was a miracle.  I have learned one lesson in life from Lewis and that is to appreciate the good times. They are never permanent and are always fleeting.  But when they make an unexpected entrance celebrate like there is no tomorrow.