a little charlottesville joy

“Oh honey…” my friend said when looking at the bracket I’d filled out for March Madness, “you have Virginia going all the way? That’s going to hurt you.”

“Well… maybe, probably… I don’t know… I can always hope,” I responded, knowing that my choice was based at least partly on local resident and mom-of-two-UVA-students loyalty. I’m no college basketball expert. Just a fan who has loved every moment of this season with this team in this town.

And if you’d been a Charlottesville resident since August 11-12 of 2017 you might have done the same thing. A winning basketball season doesn’t take away all the hurt that remains, and it doesn’t deflect from the work that lies ahead, but it sure does help the energy around here to have a little good news for a while. And it is nice to hear the word “Charlottesville” on the national news for a different reason.

Today, and into the weekend, we celebrate and soak in the joy and pride that unites students and alumnae and faculty and staff and locals in this place that is still working to put the pieces back together. A little levity feels just right.

I didn’t win my bracket game. It seems I wasn’t the only one who had UVA winning it all. But it didn’t hurt me at all.