Invincible.

It’s been awhile.

I haven’t written a word in a few months. I’ve been enjoying writing retirement to an extent. But today, I need to write. Not for you, selfishly, but for me. Every morning, I wake up thinking I can change the world. But this morning when I woke up, I just didn’t have that feeling. I felt broken, my faith felt bruised, my resolve in shambles. I can’t make sense of this, and I don’t want to. It’s senseless tragedy to the enth degree. The death of those who have lived lives is hard. The death of those with so much life to live is shattering. I feel shattered.

Losing legends is so hard because they seem above it all. They seem above death, and God’s time in a way. Their deaths are unfathomable because their lives seemed untouchable. Unrelenting, unparalleled, and uncompromising, the things they do seem to be above time, and with it, so do the person themselves.

Youth feels this way too.

Few of us really knew him. Fewer of us knew her. Almost none of us knew the others. But one thing we all knew is that Kobe didn't fear a damn thing. It had become a staple of what made him iconic. He did not fear opponents, records, or greatness. I know damn well he didn’t fear death. And I know that in those last moments, he made sure that Giana didn’t fear it either. There’s a saying that death happens mostly to those around you, instead of you yourself. Well over the last 24 hours, death has happened to millions of people all at once. Kobe wasn't perfect. We know that. He had his moments of failure. Those are documented. But that’s why even us who didn’t follow his every game, or watch every MVP moment, respected and revered him. He was real. He was unapologetically Kobe Bryant. That was enough. Hell, That more more than enough.

His records and accolades may be broken, surpassed, or faded. But his impact on the game, on the world we live in, and on us as lovers of stories and dreams will live on forever. You see, Kobe was invincible. He is invincible. Because everything he left us, everything he gave us, every improble shot, every buzzer beater, ever clock stopping heart racing ground shaking moment he gave us...they will be with us forever. Just like Kobe, they don’t fear something as trivial as death, because death can never take those things from us.

Help each other. Tell someone they’re special. Be good people. And Give Love Always.

We need it.