I love this for a lot of reasons but for one in particular
LeBron’s biological father wasn’t a part of his life. He had really important men in his life, though — a few of them detailed here in this @elisaslow story: espn.com/nba/story/_/id…
But he didn’t have one dude showing him the ropes. A lot of people don’t, and yet when it comes time to have their own families they become great parents anyway.
My dad’s father pretty much got swallowed up by the bottle and his job when my dad was a kid. He wasn’t really around, and when it came time to have me at a REAL young age, he stuck it out the best he could
And it wasn’t perfect. There were times when I was a kid when I remember thinking “oh boy he does NOT have the range for this.” And at times, like all parents, he didn’t. Especially with a case like me.
And now that I’m on the other end of that, it’s so clear where he was looking outside for the things he was supposed to do — because he didn’t see them firsthand growing up, or from his dad.
So LeBron here is just one of y’all—sons and daughters— doing that every day even though you may have not had that growing up — even though you may not know how to do it in the first place
That’s a miracle, and i can’t tell you the payoff because there really aren’t words to properly tally what that means to your kids and the kids you try to adopt and care for along the way.
Anyway I love all of you who are taking care of someone even though you might not have gotten the full manual, or had a roundabout, unconventional route to parenthood.
Because that kid can’t see the seams. All he sees is love, and that’s all he needs to know.
Also good lord, LeBron’s brain is an insane place, he’s got a full scouting summary of a youth league basketball game cut up and edited in his head seconds after watching it
