What March Madness Taught Me About Divorce and Life

Attorney Courtney Dillon is a valued member of our divorce and family law legal team, a proud Providence College alum, and a rabid college basketball fan. We are thrilled to share her first blog post with you.

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Courtney Dillon and her beau Tommy overcome with March Madness at the UVA vs. UMBC game.

To know me is to know my love of college basketball.

So, it should come as no surprise that as soon as I learned my beloved Providence Friars were playing in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Charlotte on a weekend that I was already scheduled to be there (kismet!), I would be at the game.  And at the game I was. I excitedly and proudly cheered on my Friars and was disappointed when they didn’t quite play to their potential and fell to Texas A&M.  But, boy, did my day turn around when later in the evening I witnessed sports history.

The University of Maryland Baltimore County, a number 16 seed, played the University of Virginia, a number one seed, and won 74-54.

I’ll say it again, they won.

In the history of the NCAA Tournament, a number 16 seed has never knocked out a number 1 seed. College basketball fans have been waiting decades for what was always considered to be not only improbable, but, until last night, impossible.

To put it simply, it was inspiring. It was proof that regardless of the odds, anything can happen. Everyone in the Spectrum Center who did not come to the game as a UVA fan became a UMBC fan. As the game unfolded, the electricity and momentum grew, you could feel the energy and support for this UMBC team. They were the underdogs, the 16 seed up against the number one ranked team in the country, and it was as if, collectively, the crowd all realized they just might win, and not only win, but win. (You know, not a buzzer beater, David v. Goliath moment, but a true dominate win). So as the game went on, we all banded together, yelling and cheering, to support them. 

As a college basketball fan, obviously, this game was truly special. But as I thought more about it, I realized the lesson of this game is special for everyone, college basketball fan or not.  And it reminded me of some of my favorite Freed Marcroft clients.

When the odds are stacked against you, and it feels impossible (whatever the “it” is in your life), remember — anything is possible.  UMBC barely even got into the NCAA tournament. But they did.  And then they won.

Most of our clients at Freed Marcroft are going through a divorce.  For some of them, the divorce wasn’t their idea and they may feel bamboozled, scared, and powerless.  Because I have the honor of helping people through divorce, I have had the opportunity to see — again and again — our clients’ transition to happier lives.

Our clients dream dreams they never imagined during their marriages.  Even when the divorce wasn’t their idea.  Even when they thought they were living the life they wanted.  Even when the idea of divorce scares the pants off of them.  And then these amazing people Freed Marcroft gets to work with go off and create a new reality for themselves and their families and darn it they go live those darn dreams they dared dream.

They make something previously inconceivable to them become their life.

I learned from them what I learned from UMBC. If you can get in, you can win. And in life, we’re all already in.

And we can all win, even when it feels impossible.

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