24 Hours

For anyone who doesn't know, this summer Matt has been pursuing the opportunity to play professional basketball as his career. We signed with an agent (Emilio) in June, and Matt has been working hard on his game all summer and gotten some pretty cool opportunities to play with some NBA players through the Pro-Am tournament. Matt went to the National NBA Developmental League try out in July and was recently offered a contract with the D-League. We considered the contract, but we felt like an opportunity to play in Europe might be a better path to take. Emilio felt like he could get Matt a contract, probably in Spain. He's been in contact with us all summer, keeping us updated on his efforts, but basically because of the NBA lockout this summer and because of the economic crisis in Europe, things have been moving really slow this year.

This past Friday morning Emilio called Matt and said "I know this is crazy, but how do you feel about being on a plane to Madrid tomorrow?" Emilio had gotten Matt a tryout with two teams right outside of Madrid, one of them a top team in the ACB (top division) in Spain. He felt pretty confident that if Matt could go over there and they could see him play that he would get a contract.

Matt called me at work and we discussed it, and felt like we should take the chance. After talking to his family, we booked the flight. I came home for lunch, but then had to go back to work while Matt ran some errands. We were both so excited, nervous, worried, anxious, happy, surprised...all at the same time. My stomach was in knots all day, and it was hard to focus at work. We've been waiting for this call all summer, and now it was here! After work, we went to the Rollins soccer game where some of Matt's teammates were so he could say bye to them. Then we went to Verizon to take care of phones, and to the Nike outlet to get him some things he needed. It was so much fun, Matt doesn't spend a lot on himself, so I made him buy a couple pairs of Jordan shorts, a dry fit work out shirt and some other fun stuff. I told him when he got to Spain he could see all the nicely folded new clothes in his suitcase and think of me :). Then we came home and a couple of Matt's Rollins teammates came over to say bye, which was so nice of them. They hung out for awhile and helped us pack, which actually didn't take too long. We didn't know how long he was leaving for...if he gets a contract this could be him moving over there, so we packed a lot. We managed to fit it all in a big black rolling suitcase and a big duffel bag, and also a carry on. By the time we finished packing everything we were so exhausted from being so nervous and excited all day that we were able to fall asleep pretty easily. We woke up the next morning, finished packing some last minute things, made copies of important documents, and then I drove him to the airport.

I was so excited that this opportunity was here that I didn't even realized he would be leaving. I didn't have time to be sad until after I left him. It was weird dropping Matt off at the airport having no idea when or where I would see him again! It could be when he comes back, or it could be when I go to Spain and meet up with him!

So that was our crazy 24 hours, but we are so grateful for this opportunity and so excited! Hopefully it will work out!

On the way to the airport

My handsome man (doesn't his new haircut look great?)

At the airport (notice the new shorts) :)