Competition got me off the farm and trained me to seek out challenges and to endure setbacks; and in combination with my faith, it sustains me now in my fight with Alzheimer's disease.
Have you ever walked along a shoreline, only to have your footprints washed away? That's what Alzheimer's is like. The waves erase the marks we leave behind, all the sand castles. Some days are better than others.
In my case, symptoms began to appear when I was only 57. In fact, the doctors believe early-onset Alzheimer's has a strong genetic predictor, and that it may have been progressing for some years before I was diagnosed.
Sometimes I draw blanks.
I remember teaching a clinic to other coaches, and a guy raised his hand and asked if I had any advice when it came to coaching women. I leveled him with a death-ray stare, and said, 'Go home and coach basketball.'
I hate to sound this way but, 'Why me? Why me with dementia?'
I'm not a good loser. I get sick physically... I take it to heart. I hate it.
I think that a lot of people would perceive my style as being intimidating. And although I don't want to intimidate kids, I am very demanding.
Winning is fun... Sure. But winning is not the point. Wanting to win is the point. Not giving up is the point. Never letting up is the point. Never being satisfied with what you've done is the point.
I was like, 'I don't know if I could be an Olympian...' But my dad really influenced me to stay and be in the Olympics.
I remember standing on a medal podium at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, imbued with a sense that if you won enough basketball games, there was no such thing as poor, backward, country, female, or inferior.
The game is never over. No matter what the scoreboard reads or what the referee says, it doesn't end when you come off the court.
I can remember trying to coach, trying to figure out schemes, and it just wasn't coming to me.
