Johnsons find solace
At times the emphasis on athletics spirals out of control, but at other times there can be no greater comfort than sports.
With hope, Aubree Johnson will find that comfort tonight when she plays basketball with her Arizona State teammates for the first time since the shocking death of her 15-year-old brother Jordan on Nov. 25.
With an athletic connection, tragedy and the ensuing grief become much more public.
“I haven’t thought too much about basketball,” Johnson said. “At first it was, ‘It’s not even that important, I don’t even care.’ Then I was thinking how Jordan loved to play. All three of us, my (older) sister Desiree, too, were given athletic ability we can use every day.”
In one of those strange coincidences that seem commonplace in sports, the 13th-ranked Sun Devils play tonight at Gonzaga, a senior homecoming for Johnson, who is from Post Falls, and teammate Emily Westerberg, a Central Valley graduate.
“My heart is breaking,” Westerberg said. “I love the Johnsons with my whole heart. Aubree is like my sister, she’s my best friend. “Obviously, it’s going to be bittersweet. I think it’s going to be really sweet for Aubree to put on her jersey again in front of her hometown and the people that love her.”
But the ties go much deeper. Two other ASU players, junior Regan Pariseau and sophomore Briann January, are from Spokane and played on the same Spokane Stars team that went 55-1 in 2002, winning several major summer tournaments.
Three Gonzaga players, seniors Katy Ridenour and Stephanie Hawk and sophomore Jami Bjorklund, were also on that team.
Jordan was a big part of that, too, as the Johnsons traveled to many tournaments. When Jordan died, the result of a heart attack because of an enlarged heart, the family was in the Virgin Islands to watch the Sun Devils in a tournament. Jordan sat front and center with a No. 32 ASU football jersey (his sister’s number), imploring his sister to shoot more.
“Every one of us Stars knows the Johnsons,” said Ridenour, who grew up with and played with Aubree in Post Falls. “Jordan would have cheered us all on. It kind of puts things in perspective.”
Jordan was a promising high school athlete, an accomplished swimmer and outdoor enthusiast. From Saturday’s funeral service – a celebration of a full, young life – came the sense this basketball game is going to be a big part of the healing process for the Johnsons, more than a battle between an established national program and one with designs of reaching the same heights.
“Certainly, it’s going to be a competition,” said Jordan’s mother, Cyndie. “I would guess more people will be at the game because of it. More people are aware. We have to be thankful for what we have. Communities, friendships and relationships are much more important than basketball. We’re remembering that for sure.”
But life goes on.
“We’re trying to come to grips with reality,” Cyndie said. “It’s just all in God’s hands, that’s how we’re handling it. It’s surreal to me – shake my head and think it didn’t happen.”
She said the support the family has received has been staggering, far beyond the reach of the Post Falls community.
“We’re just overwhelmed and thankful we have all this community support,” she said. “We have heard from people we haven’t talked to in years because our paths have gone different ways. It helps a lot. People need to know those kind words, hugs, cards help us deal with this.”
That the community stretches to Arizona and includes boosters they don’t even know is another example of how wide the net gets cast because of athletics.
“Basketball is important, but their priorities are people first, relationships first, family,” Cyndie said. “They consider their players part of one big family.”
That’s why Westerberg missed the Sun Devils’ tournament last weekend to be with Aubree, and Pariseau played Friday night but missed Saturday to be at the funeral.
“I felt that if I could be there for my team Friday night I should be there,” Pariseau said. “Once I took care of business, I thought I should be there for Aubree and her needs. In all honestly, it’s been very difficult. It’s been an emotional roller coaster. You never expect anything like this to hit so close to home. We’re doing the best we can. Trying to get through, healing, taking care of ourselves.”
Westerberg, ASU’s scoring leader, struggled with the thought of letting her teammates down but eventually followed her mother’s “10-10-10” rule: What will you think of a decision in 10 minutes, 10 days, 10 years?
“In 10 years, I’ll be proud that I made the decision to be there to celebrate Jordan’s life,” Westerberg said. “At times like this, you realize some of the things you worry about don’t matter.”