Judy

was "J.T." on the Basketball sign-in board at the Hollywood YMCA because if she used her name, it would be erased. Men welcome "J.T." but not "Judy." I met her a few years after that; we spent a lot of time together as adversaries on the court. She made me howl with laughter by coming up with creative insults, and trash talk is just as exciting as the game.

By the time I got there, a few women were playing, pioneered by Judy. It was before "toxic masculinity" was called such. Like mold, it was a suffocating presence on the court. A few women played but weren't seen, except by one another. Some of the guys would use the "B-word," Judy would school them on that by reminding them of their Mothers, Sisters, and Daughters. Lovingly, she tried to enlarge their awareness.

Judy has many more angles and sides, oppression has visited her in other forms, and she's indomitable. Our circumstances keep putting us in orbit with one another. Thank God. She's also a proper weirdo and can spend days upon months in her cocoon. I get all of that, and if I had a Sister in life, Judy would be one of them.

She plays in a "Senior Women's League," and she has no use for the word "Senior." "It feels old," and "I'm not!" she told me. The playlist She brought for our session unleashed a version of her I hadn't seen. We're just getting started all over again and have some exciting avenues to explore. More on that later.

You never know what or who'll you keep from a Basketball game, what will last or endure. I can't get enough her and she reminds me to stay open, you never know who will sweeten and enrich your life. She's a Baller, shot-caller and thankfully, a #portraitofafriend