tomorrow will be playoffs for several new friends that i’ve made at the fremont citybeach. i think that i will go and support the teams through their playoffs.

i remember a time when greg and i were playing a grass tournament and a bunch of my friends came to cheer us on. we were placed in a division that was way higher than what we could compete in and were getting killed. i was a little embarassed that we were getting slaughtered so.

but when my friends came, they were cheering for us and cheering for us rather loudly. any little point we made, any good play we had, they cheered. we still were destroyed, but the fact that they came out to cheer us on really brightened up my day. it is one of the happiest memories i have of those summer tournaments.

i used to date this girl and one of the phrases that we coined in our relationship was “i’m cheering for you.” i think it started when i was going through tough times. though she couldn’t really do anything to help the situation, she told me that she was cheering for me. i think just knowing that the other person is there, rooting you on in the face of imminent disaster always brought me great comfort.

after we broke up, she and i have gone off in our separate ways and we’ve had some ups and downs in our friendship. we aren’t talking anymore, and to be honest, i don’t know if the situation will ever let us be friends again. despite being disappointed at how she has chosen to handle our friendship, i still do remember with great fondness the phrase that we had coined.

win or lose, it doesn’t matter, it’s the journey that shapes our existance. i appreciate the people in my life who make it special, who make it worthwhile, and for those people i can only feel an incredible gratitude for the impact they’ve had on my life. whether they realize it or not, it is appreciated.

i’m cheering for you, too.