For My Coach Yow...

"The Starfish"
Based on the story by Loren Eiselley"

I awoke early, as I often did, just before dawn sunrise to walk by the ocean's edge and greet the new day. As I moved through the misty dawn, I focused on a faint, far away motion. I saw a youth, bending and reaching and flailing his arms, dancing on the beach, no doubt in the celebration of the perfect day soon to began.

As I approached, I sadly realized that the youth was not dancing to the bay, but rather bending to sift through the debris left by the night's tide, stopping now and then to pick up a starfish and then standing, to heave it back into the sea. I asked the youth the purpose of the effort. "The tide has washed the starfish onto the beach and they cannot return to the sea by themselves," the youth replied. "When the sun rises, they will die, unless I throw them back to the sea."

As the youth explained, I surveyed the vast expanse of the beach, stretching both directions beyond my sight. Starfish littered the shore in numbers beyond calculation. The hopelessness of the youth's plan became clear to me and I countered, "But there are more starfish on this beach than you can ever save before the sun is up. Surely you cannot expect to make a difference."

The youth paused briefly to consider my words, bent to pick a starfish and threw it as far as possible. Turning to me he simply said, "I made a difference to that one."


To All my Wolfpack Family and Sisters,

I send this story to you because of the positive impact Coach Yow has made in my life. She has made a positive difference in all our lives. She is an angel sent to us from God himself to teach us his word through her life teachings, her wisdom and guidance, her forgiveness, her love, and her diligent work on the basketball court molding us into better players, as well as, better people in the process. No words can adequately or eloquently express the deep admiration, respect, and unconditional love I feel for her in my heart and soul. I have read so many of your emails and am deeply touched by all your sincere words, positive prayer and scriptures, and circle of love that surrounds her. All of us are her "starfish." I am so grateful I had the opportunity to play for her. She hand picked each of us. It was God's plan to bring us individually together as a pack. It's so wonderful how our difference in ages transcends our unique ability to be a true family, and it's all because of Coach Yow. We all have our own special relationships with her but all of us together are strong like links in a metal chain. Pray. I leave you with a quote from The Shack by William P. Young..."Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal" - author unknown . I highly recommend it if you have not read it. Finally, I am including my chapter I wrote for Stephanie Zonar's book Leader of the Pack. Hopefully, it will be published in the near future. I love all of you. God Bless Coach Yow.

Sincerely,
Sherry Lawson Ingram