The first story is about a mother (Susan) and telling her daughter (Illya) about how she learned to skate. As a family, they experienced what sounded like abuse from Susan’s husband. To escape from this, Susan got a job at an Islamic school and used her first paycheck to buy a pair of black roller skates with purple wheels. Susan goes to describe how when she was 5, her mother took her to a roller skate for a free lesson. She learned to fall, she learned to ride. Through everything, including poverty and multiple moves, they kept the skates to hold on to “the old me.” When Susan finally got a divorce, she took her skates out and felt like a child again. Wearing a hijab, she doesn’t get to feel wind in her hair, but she felt the wind in her hijab. Illya loves her mother’s skates because they remind her of Susan, and she expresses how deep their loving bond is as the story ends.
The story opens and closes with a soft little guitar tune and the beginning also has narration setting up the story. I found it was nice setting up some context in the beginning and closing off what was a touching, emotional ending to the story,
In this story, John and Jody Ferrari talk about the late Red Klotz, who was Jody’s father and the founder of the Washington Generals. the team that plays the Harlem Globetrotters. In the story, they talk about how Red went against the metaphorical script and hit a game winner against the Globetrotters, the only time the Generals ever won. Red would say “the Globetrotters losing is similar to someone shooting Santa Claus.” John and Jody go on to talk about how the Globetrotters would travel the world and introduce basketball to places it had yet to be. Whether small towns or deserts in Africa, the Trotters spread their brand of fun, and Red was there to lose every single time. Jody made a note about how Red hated to lose, but never once complained about it with the Generals. Red embraced his role as the “bad guy” and he loved being apart of the joyful quest that the Globetrotters were taking. Red carried a love for the game that stayed with him until the end, always keeping a ball in his car and always getting up shots when he was able. In many ways, I want to love basketball as much as Red did.
This story had a music/narration intro as well, but the music stayed in for most of the story. Red also had an audio quote addressing himself as the fall guy, his role against the Globetrotters. Right after the Santa joke is when it cut out. It cutting out after that part of the story with a cool little riff was nice, marking a shift in the story being told. The intro was about the single game Red won, while the latter portion talked about Red’s overall legacy.