The last time I saw Nita Schoonover was during a girls basketball game at Sandpoint High School sometime in early 2020.
We were still attending our son Willie's home games then.
Nita had been diagnosed with cancer at the time. I remember players from the team coming from the bench to that usual spot in the stands where Nita always sat as a longtime and faithful Bulldog fan.
They gave her hugs and they gave her flowers.
Nita once told me that she loves the gym because she feels her late husband Chuck's presence there.
Chuck Schoonover was a legendary Sandpoint High wrestling coach who was taken by cancer several years ago.
When the Pandemic began, I wondered if I'd ever see Nita again because of her cancer diagnosis.
Well, nearly two years later, when Bill and I entered Les Rogers gymnasium last night and walked toward the section where we usually sit, THERE WAS NITA and her daughter Christy.
What a welcome and heart-warming sight! After all the sadness of the Pandemic, one feels a jolt of joy upon seeing someone who overcame the odds.
That has happened to a few of my longtime friends lately, and if there were diamonds of the "roughness" of this long and arduous period in our lives, Nita and my friend Mae have provided super sparkle and inspiration.
Both have endured against tough odds, and, for that, everyone who knows and loves them is grateful.
This morning while reading the news I saw the term "flesh-and-blood" used as a direct contrast to experiencing important segments of our normal lives online.
Well, Bill and I enjoyed our first "flesh-and-blood" hometown basketball experience last night for the first time since early 2020.
There were many familiar faces. As so often happens these days, there were jolts of awareness that we haven't seen some of those faces for almost two years.
On a sad note, there was a face missing from the usual basketball support staff, due to Covid.
On a happier note, though, we saw a fresh, handsome, smiling face from the family of longtime statisticians sitting next to his grandfather in the seat occupied by his late father.
And, Mom, was proudly sitting just above him in the stands.
We heard a beautiful rendition of the "National Anthem" sung so impressively by a Sandpoint High student.
At halftime, we watched a group of enthusiastic future girls basketball stars shooting hoops and hitting some impressive shots.
While sitting with his wife Debbie, we watched our son Willie coach his team of scrappy players to a solid victory over St. Maries.
That object of anything we do competitively in life is to improve. In the past week, Willie's team has elevated itself from 0-2 to 2-2.
Overall, this flesh-and-blood basketball experience ended with a Bulldog victory and a sense of appreciation that we could see so much more, in real time and real life, what our son and his assistant coaches are accomplishing with this year's team.
Online was nice; but flesh-and-blood in any experience is so much better.
Plus, it was a wonderful feeling reconnecting with all those faces and loyal fans like Nita who support the team's efforts.
Yay, Bulldogs.
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