Dear Reuben

"let ma team down and i let ma school down today...sorry fur everything!"

This was my nephew's post on March 3.

Dear Reuben,

In life, you and I have had this conversation before but here goes again, deeper, there are two kinds of people. There are people who actively play the game of life and people who sit in the stands judging the players. Now, everyone in some form or another is playing life's "game". How actively one plays is what I'm talking about here.

It is too easy to keep your life so small and do only the things in life that you know that you are good at so that you won't make mistakes. So that no one will judge you. That's too easy. If you are a player you will make mistakes. That's a part of learning. This letter might serve you better if it was coming from Michael Jordan, an athlete you admire who has missed a shot or two in his day. But it's not, it's coming from me, your aunt. I do not play basketball, not on any level worth mentioning anyway. I am a poet, an artist, a mother. And I have made mistakes in all of these areas. And that's a part of it. A part of my lesson, my growth, my journey. To my credit, I have made my mistakes on the court (of life). I mess up and pick up and learn and keep going (growing). Sure I could duck my head in the sand and tip toe through the rest of my life and do just enough to get by. I could, but that's not how players roll.

There is adage to the saying "Go big or go home". For me, folks aint got to go home, but play the game or shut up, for sure. I am proud of you. Of the leader you are, of the player you are. I wish you more successes and more mistakes. Yep, even those. Because you will grow from them.

Love you nephew,

Aunties