You Are Never Alone on your Journey

This Friday ( Dec 16)  we will be at the Jacob Ranton Memorial Basketball Tournament at Waterloo Collegiate. The tournament features 16 teams from around the area but a more important aspect is that the tournament raises money for the Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council. This blog's title serves two purposes: One is that there is always someone with whom we can share our vulnerability in times when life can be overwhelming. The second is that as parents who have lost a son to suicide, Doug and Sandra Ranton need to know that the community is filled with allies for them and the support for this tournament is a perfect example. 

A bit of history here. Doug Ranton and I formed a friendship through a mutual respect of our coaching.  Doug coached in Waterloo and I coached in Burlington and we would often set up exhibition games against each other as we knew it would be fun, with both teams working hard and playing the right way. Process over result. Recollection says that Waterloo got the better of us most of the time. Their guards were always tough and they had great size inside. Probably their coaching too.

One of their excellent inside players was Doug's son, Jacob. At 6'8" he could shoot, put the ball on the floor, move without the ball, seal the inside, and was a great teammate. We ran into each other at regional team camps and I always loved how respectful a young man Jacob came off as. What a leader.

The Burlington team had a lot of talent but one player in particular always caught Doug's eye. That was my son Daniel, the point guard whose high IQ  set the table and someone Doug saw as having a great future in the game. I loved the way this great coach and better person talked with Daniel whenever they saw each other.

After finishing high school Daniel went to Guelph while Jacob took his talents to Memorial University in Newfoundland. Chance would have it that Memorial came on an exhibition tour of Ontario and they played Guelph so Daniel and Jacob got to play against each other again.

On Dec 23 2014 Jacob died by suicide. As Doug so painfully yet eloquently said, Jacob died of  a terminal illness, an illness that isn't talked about enough. I remember picking up Daniel after a Guelph practice to go to the funeral home in Waterloo. The love for Jacob and the Ranton family was obvious as the Waterloo and basketball community came out in droves. Daniel had hurt his back in that practice and we stood in line for over three hours but Daniel never complained. He had to see Doug.

That love for the family has never stopped. The Jacob Ranton Memorial tournament has raised $200,000 for the WRSPC and the goal is to make sure that this terminal illness that took Jacob is something that has to come to the forefront. It's good to talk about it. The WRSPC and Doug, Sandra and Trevor Ranton should be proud of what they have done and continue to do. Their resiliency and commitment to helping others is inspiring. And we need to let them know they are not alone.

This weekends tournament has a silent auction, with the link below. At 10am Friday there will be a guest speaker  Hunter Pinke, whose journey is inspiring. There are no bad days...Tickets still available.

To help my dear friends Doug and Sandra, and to keep Jacob's journey going, I will be selling copies of A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp, with proceeds going to the WRSPC. If you live in the Waterloo area drop by WCI at 300 Hazel Street. I'll be there from 10am till 4pm.

Here is a bio for Hunter Pinke.https://www.hunterpinke.com/

Here is the link for the silent auction. Lots of great stuff.

https://cbo.io/bidapp/index.php?slug=wrspcevents

Hope to see you there. 

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