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Authors: Alison Ryan
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spot.”
Normally this would make Logan roll her eyes at her father’s silly “Dad” jokes. But instead it made her cry, a cry that shook her to her core.
“Logan,” her father’s voice was stern now. “There will be no tears shed for me. I’m still here. I’m not going anywhere. And you are always my daughter, even if… Even if for some reason I am not here anymore. And you are destined for great things. This is just a bump in the road, my little love.”
Logan stared at him, amazed that he was speaking to her like it was any other day, as if he hadn’t just been told that he was dying. “It’s not just a bump, Dad. It’s a meteor sized blast straight to my heart.”
Her father pulled her to him, allowing her to cry into his shoulders for a few minutes, to let the frustration and pain out.
He’d done it many a time. Logan had sobbed into his shoulders over lost games, unfair calls, fights with friends, and frustration over her own growing pains.
He was her father after all. And even cancer could never change that.
Chapter Twelve
Solomon
W ith the Rio Olympics not far away, Sensei Shinji sat down with Gavin and Solomon to discuss the chances of their young judoka qualifying for the games. Solomon’s best weight was just below two hundred pounds, which placed him just at the top end of the under-ninety-kilogram weight class for international judo.
The process for qualifying was a time consuming and financially-challenging process. Performances in tournaments all around the globe counted for points which went toward a judoka’s world ranking. Each nation could send only one athlete in each weight class to the Olympics, and Solomon would likely struggle to accumulate enough points to surpass some of his older, more experienced peers.
Gavin felt he could get the bank which employed him to sponsor Solomon, defraying some of his travel costs and allowing him to train and compete full-time, but the 2020 Tokyo Olympics seemed like a better opportunity for Solomon. He’d be twenty-six, in his athletic prime, and competing in the birthplace of judo, Japan.
If Solomon somehow reached Rio in 2016, all the better, but the three men decided that Tokyo would be the ultimate goal, and that they’d game plan accordingly.
Until Solomon spoke up.
“What if I were to represent Fiji rather than the United States? Fiji has never won an Olympic medal. I want to be the first. How could I qualify as a Fijian?”
Sensei Shinji and Gavin looked at each other and at Solomon incredulously.
“That’s so perfect!” Gavin replied. “Why didn’t we think of that sooner? If you can get yourself ranked in the top twenty-two in the world, you’re in. Assuming no Fijian judoka is higher ranked. Let me research it a bit. You haven’t represented the US team anywhere yet, so why not?”
“And that way, I can get into Worlds and stuff like that and get another crack at Adonis. He won’t be able to hide anymore,” Solomon added.
Sensei Shinji laughed. “Fight him with rage and revenge in your heart and I promise you’ll lose, kailoma. ‘Ju yoku go o seisu’. Softness controls hardness . When the time is right, he will appear before you, and you will use what you’ve been taught. You won’t pursue him, give him reason to pursue you. Be so good that he has to face you to keep from slipping into obscurity.”
“And then can I crush him?” Solomon asked.
The three men laughed.
“Yes. Then you can crush him,” Sensei Shinji assured his young student.
Gavin made a series of phone calls and sent out e-mails over the following days and discovered that Solomon could certainly represent Fiji in the Olympics, but that he’d have to surpass the performance of several strong judokas from the islands in his weight class. By sheer force of numbers, his road through Fiji would be easier than trying to fight his way through the bevy of higher-ranked Americans, and Solomon was enthusiastic about winning Fiji a medal. If
Normally this would make Logan roll her eyes at her father’s silly “Dad” jokes. But instead it made her cry, a cry that shook her to her core.
“Logan,” her father’s voice was stern now. “There will be no tears shed for me. I’m still here. I’m not going anywhere. And you are always my daughter, even if… Even if for some reason I am not here anymore. And you are destined for great things. This is just a bump in the road, my little love.”
Logan stared at him, amazed that he was speaking to her like it was any other day, as if he hadn’t just been told that he was dying. “It’s not just a bump, Dad. It’s a meteor sized blast straight to my heart.”
Her father pulled her to him, allowing her to cry into his shoulders for a few minutes, to let the frustration and pain out.
He’d done it many a time. Logan had sobbed into his shoulders over lost games, unfair calls, fights with friends, and frustration over her own growing pains.
He was her father after all. And even cancer could never change that.
Chapter Twelve
Solomon
W ith the Rio Olympics not far away, Sensei Shinji sat down with Gavin and Solomon to discuss the chances of their young judoka qualifying for the games. Solomon’s best weight was just below two hundred pounds, which placed him just at the top end of the under-ninety-kilogram weight class for international judo.
The process for qualifying was a time consuming and financially-challenging process. Performances in tournaments all around the globe counted for points which went toward a judoka’s world ranking. Each nation could send only one athlete in each weight class to the Olympics, and Solomon would likely struggle to accumulate enough points to surpass some of his older, more experienced peers.
Gavin felt he could get the bank which employed him to sponsor Solomon, defraying some of his travel costs and allowing him to train and compete full-time, but the 2020 Tokyo Olympics seemed like a better opportunity for Solomon. He’d be twenty-six, in his athletic prime, and competing in the birthplace of judo, Japan.
If Solomon somehow reached Rio in 2016, all the better, but the three men decided that Tokyo would be the ultimate goal, and that they’d game plan accordingly.
Until Solomon spoke up.
“What if I were to represent Fiji rather than the United States? Fiji has never won an Olympic medal. I want to be the first. How could I qualify as a Fijian?”
Sensei Shinji and Gavin looked at each other and at Solomon incredulously.
“That’s so perfect!” Gavin replied. “Why didn’t we think of that sooner? If you can get yourself ranked in the top twenty-two in the world, you’re in. Assuming no Fijian judoka is higher ranked. Let me research it a bit. You haven’t represented the US team anywhere yet, so why not?”
“And that way, I can get into Worlds and stuff like that and get another crack at Adonis. He won’t be able to hide anymore,” Solomon added.
Sensei Shinji laughed. “Fight him with rage and revenge in your heart and I promise you’ll lose, kailoma. ‘Ju yoku go o seisu’. Softness controls hardness . When the time is right, he will appear before you, and you will use what you’ve been taught. You won’t pursue him, give him reason to pursue you. Be so good that he has to face you to keep from slipping into obscurity.”
“And then can I crush him?” Solomon asked.
The three men laughed.
“Yes. Then you can crush him,” Sensei Shinji assured his young student.
Gavin made a series of phone calls and sent out e-mails over the following days and discovered that Solomon could certainly represent Fiji in the Olympics, but that he’d have to surpass the performance of several strong judokas from the islands in his weight class. By sheer force of numbers, his road through Fiji would be easier than trying to fight his way through the bevy of higher-ranked Americans, and Solomon was enthusiastic about winning Fiji a medal. If
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