Growing up in Indiana, my love of
basketball, and, for that matter, just about any sport, was a natural
fit with one of my husband’s most vivid ghostly childhood
memories.
This was the plan every weekend the
Cubs were in town: A visit to his grandmother's brownstone loft
apartment that overlooked Wrigley Field in Chicago. Oppressive summer
heat, mixed with the smell of the Ben Gay Grandma Sutton used
for numerous aches, pains, and disabilities, was small price to pay
for the privilege of sitting in her window, watching every pitch and
every swing and every home run.
That all changed the night he woke to a
brilliant ball of light that moved slowly across the bedroom wall
until it settled in the middle of his chest. Was it simply the
imagination of an eight-year-old? Maybe car lights? Couldn't be. His
window faced a nearby brownstone. He bounded from the bed with a
sharp intake of breath and raced down the hallway toward his parents'
room. Just a bad dream, they assured him. Go back to sleep.
Early the next morning, the phone rang
with news that his grandmother had died during the night; close to
the time he encountered the mysterious light. His logical thinking,
engineer dad dismissed the idea of any connection to his son's
nightmare, but his free-spirited mother thought it possible
that grandmother visited grandson, one last time.
Decades later, my husband chooses to
believe the light that settled near his heart that night was his
grandmother's way of saying good-bye.
But, he still can't stand the smell of
Ben Gay.
Mary Cunningham, author
Considering my background, consumed
with Hoosier basketball, I appreciate his summers spent sitting in
that window yelling for his beloved Cubbies. From the time I was old
enough to sit on bleachers, my dad took me to high school basketball
games, patiently explaining the rules. Sometimes yelling at "awful
calls" made by those men in the black and white striped shirts.
Writing Ghost Light about Jake McMillen's dreams of
becoming a star basketball player while dealing with his
grandmother's illness, was a natural fit. I could stay true to my
roots and still honor my husband's memories of his grandmother's
final visit.
Ghost Light Blurb:
11-year-old Jake McMillen wants, more
than anything in the world, to play varsity basketball for the
Panthers, just like his late, Grandpa Max. One big problem. While
Jake inherits his grandfather’s love for the game, the McMillen
height passes him by.
Not only that, “old people” like
his grandmother, keep taking up too much of his precious practice
time. He knows she’s sick, but being dragged along to her steamy
apartment cuts into the afternoon pick-up game at the Island
basketball court.
After being humiliated during a game by
star player, Quinn Parker, Jake gets a ghostly message that changes
his outlook toward his grandmother’s illness and inspires him to
pursue his dreams.
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This is exactly as it happened. I have no trouble remembering every detail. I know it was Grandma saying good-bye to me. The most important thing is that 60 years later I have this connection allowing her presence to prevail. Ken C
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