Thursday, March 15, 2012

The Announcement

I have a confession to make. I absolutely love college basketball. My husband is probably the luckiest guy in the world because I love it just as much as him. Most other wives get frustrated about March Madness but not this girl. With that being said, last Sunday was known in the college basketball world as Selection Sunday. This is the day that they decide which teams make it into the tournament. This year after Selection Sunday they had an ESPN Special called "The Announcement".

"The Announcement" was about Magic Johnson. For those of you who aren't basketball lovers like me, Magic Johnson was an extremely talented basketball player that spent his career playing for the Los Angeles Lakers. His career came to a halt when he tested positive for HIV. So many things stood out to me when he shared his story that I wanted to share with you.

#1- It absolutely blew me away when he didn't make excuses. He stated that he made foolish decisions, had unprotected sex and that he had no one to blame for his condition other than himself. He never blamed the fame, pressure, influences around him, his childhood, or anything. Something about this was so refreshing for me. He messed up and he owned up.

#2- The biggest thing that stood out to me was his wife's {Cookie} response to the situation. When she found out about her husband, she was pregnant. Of course their fears were aimed at whether Cookie had contracted HIV,  as well as their unborn child. Luckily they had not. I can not begin to imagine what was going through her head or what she felt at that time. She said that she could drive herself crazy with questions and scenarios about how Magic had contracted HIV. That she could spend her life questioning if he cheated on her and about all the other relationships that he may or may not have had with other woman. Instead she chose to love him and not be angry. She chose to walk through this difficult time with him. She chose to be his friend when others were turning their backs on him. It was not temporary or fake either, she is still with him today {20 years later}. What a story of love and forgiveness. 

#3- Despite this difficult circumstance and life long reminder of the bad choices that he made, Magic and his wife chose to make the best of it. They chose to educate the world about the dangers of HIV/AIDS and fight for those who had this terrible disease. He started a foundation in urban communities that provides free resources as well as free HIV/AIDS testing.


Even though Rock the Red Pump is over I encourage you to continue to educated yourselves about HIV/AIDS. I encourage you to pray for those who are dying of this terrible disease and pray for a cure. If you are able, I encourage you to watch "The Announcement" It was incredibly uplifting and encouraging.


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