09/27/2021
โ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ, ๐ ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐จ๐ซ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐. ๐๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐.โ โฃ
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It was 2017.โฃ
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I was living in Miami but I had went home to Atlanta, to visit my family for Thanksgiving.โฃ
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As I arrived back in Miami after the holiday I came to the realization that I missed home.โฃ
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I missed my family, my friends, and the community that I grew up in.โฃ
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I made up my mind. I would finish 2017 in Miami and then look to relocate back to Atlanta at the begging of 2018.โฃ
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Little did I know, life never works out as planned.โฃ
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In early December I received a call from Florida International University. They offered me the opportunity to be a volunteer assistant coach on their staff.โฃ
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I remember the conversation with the coach. โฃ
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โWhy donโt you come down next week, watch us practice, see if youโre interested, and we can talk.โโฃ
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I remember going to practice and just acting like a fly on the wall.โฃ
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I didnโt know any of the girlโs names, and they didnโt know mine.โฃ
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I just stood there awkwardly as they took batting practice. I know they probably wondered who I was and what I was doing. โฃ
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After practice, and against all plans I had made up in my mind, I signed on to coach. โฃ
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Over the next 6 months, those girls became my family. โฃ
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We traveled the country together. Playing softball and sharing stories about life.โฃ
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The college season can be exhausting, both mentally and physicallyโฃ
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But through our handshakes, motivational quotes, and Dunkinโ runs, we kept each other going.โฃ
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Our conversations donโt come as often as they once did, and we have traded in our talks about hitting for updates on lifeโฃ
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But the conversations still mean more to me than they will ever know.โฃ
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I am so proud of each of you for going on to be successful business professionals, wives, and mothers.โฃ
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Thank you for the all impact you have had on my life. โฃ
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Thank you for allowing me to be part of your big day ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฝโฃ
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