𝐧𝐛𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 [𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝]

loss • cj mccollum

dear cj,

i just wanted to thank you for being the best dad and role model to amy, the best husband and best friend to me, and the best version of yourself to everyone.

i'm not only writing this just because you just lost a game, or because of how down you feel right now. i'm not only saying it's not your fault the team lost because i'm your wife, and i'm supposed to say that. i'm being truthful. because when i agreed to spend the rest of my life with you, we agreed that the truth would always come first. so here we are.

seeing you put everything on you hurts. seeing you upset with yourself hurts, because you shouldn't be. yeah, maybe tonight wasn't the best night, but not every night can be.

trust me when i say the team's lost had nothing to do with your performance. you did amazing tonight, with 35 points. it was just that the others performed better as a team. you did incredible individually, but basketball is a team sport, which means effort is needed from every single player, and you guys weren't able to provide that tonight. but that's okay.

use this as motivation to be better and win. use this as a learning point, so you know what to do or change to be better next time. use this as a sign that something isn't working, and that it needs to be improved. use this loss and make it something positive.

notice how every single time i've mentioned the loss tonight, i've said "the team's loss", because it is what it is. you didn't let the team down in any way, and everyone knows that. you can't put the burden on yourself and blame yourself for a TEAM loss. your teammates will improve, and so will you. you will improve as a team.

i love you, and you are so amazing at what you do. you are an incredible basketball player and person. don't let this one loss bring you down, because you're better than that.

love,

aaliyah

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sorry for not updating yesterday x