Flying Lessons & Other Stories

The protagonist and narrator, Chris, begins by talking about his dad, Jim Blair. Jim played professional basketball for a few years—one in the US and five in Europe—before an injury forced him to abandon basketball for a career in the tech industry. His dad’s love of the game spread to his son, and he had high hopes that Chris would play, which he did until the accident.

His family was driving on a rainy day, close to his house, when a truck veered across the road, hitting their car and causing it to spin into a light pole. Chris remembers broken glass, flashing lights, screaming, and then darkness. The next thing he recalls is regaining consciousness in the hospital and learning that he would not walk again.

Chris and his mom learned to live with his injury, but his dad struggled. Chris shares that his dad never talked a lot, but after the accident, he spoke less and less. Chris’s mom believes his father feels responsible for the accident.

Not long after his mother shares this, Chris is invited to join a wheelchair basketball team by Mr. Evans, an older man the family knows from church.