Transcendent Spirit

Huge sports fan that I am, there are some moments that transcend the normal meaning of sports. In middle school one of my teammates in basketball was diagnosed with leukemia and despite playing some in his earlier years at St. Paul's, by 8th grade he was unable to compete. But during our final tournament of the year in Peoria, he started our final game. He was in long enough to receive the opening tip before we called timeout to sub him out. It was a moving moment even for those of us on the bench, who had no idea this was happening (or at least, I didn't.) He passed away about a year and a half later, and much of the St. Paul's community went to his visitation to pay their respects, myself included. I couldn't help but remember this game yesterday as St. Paul's did something quite similar.

Picture from St. Paul's Luther School Facebook page.

Many of you know my family's story, in particular my brother Logan, who was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy in 2003. For almost 10 years I've watched his ability to move waste away, and he's been wheelchair bound for almost 2 years now. But while his muscles are weak, his heart and his spirit are incredibly strong.

When he was in 5th grade, the St. Paul's soccer coach asked my parents if Logan could be part of the team, and my parents agreed. For the most part Logan served as a manager and de facto cheerleader for his teammates and friends, and even got to play the final minute of that season. He could still walk at that point, but his balance was an issue, and my parents didn't want to risk him getting hurt, so his playing career ended there. Or so I thought.

In the weeks leading up to the end of this season, Coach Steve Drolema was planning a great finale for this team. Yesterday Zion Lutheran from Marengo made the trip out to Aurora for a couple short games to close out our season. In between games, the teams met at midfield for a pregame prayer led by Logan, and knowing about this game in advance, the kids from Marengo all signed a soccer ball to present to Logan with their favorite Bible verses on it.

Then, Logan made his first career start in soccer. He was at midfield to do the opening kickoff to a teammate, who quickly kicked it out of bounds so Logan could be subbed out. Needless to say, he left to a nice round of applause. His kick could not have been any better, right to his teammate.

I played soccer for St. Paul's for 4 years back in the day, and had some great memories of games at Jericho Park in Aurora and on the incredibly shortened field at Cross Lutheran in Yorkville. I scored once in my career, in 7th grade at home against Cross on what is probably my greatest feat of individual athleticism outside of catching any football thrown at or above head level today. Getting to see my brother take the field with his friends yesterday afternoon topped my goal and every moment I had wearing the much different Cougar uniform from back in the day.

My sincere thanks goes out to Coach Drolema and the entire St. Paul's community and staff for coming out to support this, as well as the coach of Zion-Marengo for agreeing to this special moment. And most of all to Logan, for being the ultimate teammate for 4 years and being part of a moment that transcends sport, and showing that his heart and his spirit outshine anything life can throw his way.