in celebration of mother’s day we took my mom to the #mce_temp_url#. the entire ordeal consisted of walking, which i hate, and missing the lakers game, which would end up being the last one of the season. 

i love my mom and the sacrifice was a fairly easy one to make, but the meat of this story occurs with the car ride to lunch after our long wetlands walk…

all five members of our family piled into my dad’s truck and began driving towards much needed sustenance. 

my dad quickly changed the radio station to the laker game and we all anxiously awaited the announcement of the score. much to our dismay the lakers were down by something like 20 points midway through the fourth. 

the mood in the car rapidly fell into a sort of depressed, sullenness. save for the young twelve year old girl sitting in the back seat. 

my little sister began exclaiming how the rest of us needed to have faith. 

“just watch. they’re going to make a comeback and then you’re going to be like, ‘oh sarah, you’re so smart!’” she said vehemently defending kobe and the gang’s resolve and skill. 

she would not be denied another lakers game. 

a lamar odom three-point play was all the confidence she would need to guarantee a lakers win to my mom. 

“i bet you ramen that the lakers will win,” said my sister to my mom. 

ramen is sarah’s favorite food, nothing else really gets close. my mom graciously agreed, not asking for anything in return if the lakers were unable to come back. 

when i looked back at my sister you could see the hope in her eyes. in her mind there was no denying that the lakers were going to turn things around and make the greatest comeback in nba playoff history. 

i have to admit, i began believing. 

an odom and bynum ejection later, the reality of the situation began to sink back in. 

my sister’s fanaticism is nothing new. she loves the lakers and the dodgers.

she’s just as superstitious as anyone else. she’ll sit on the same spot on the couch in order to will kobe to fourth quarter heroics. she’ll yell at pau for giving up the ball and jump up on a big dunk. 

i guess as i’ve continued to watch and cover sports i’ve begun to lose that childlike faith one has in their teams. i’ve become calloused and unbelieving in the fantastic and unbelievable. 

but for a brief moment in a truck listening to the radio i once again believed.