A Promise Beyond the Clouds

This is a true story. “Can you give me a future?” “Of course. What kind of future do you want?” “The future I hope for is one with you in it.” Behind those words was also a beautiful promise, a promise made somewhere as remote as the clouds. But that promise brought his love of basketball to an end. He didn't understand what those words meant, or why she was losing handfuls of hair, until the school organized a fundraiser for her. Only then did he learn that she was already in the late stages of cancer. Her words meant that she hoped he would live well on his own in the future. From then on, he never played basketball again.