Amy Makechnie > Quotes

“You were teeny tiny like a baby tomato. But you've gotten so big! And you're going to keep growing until you're bigger and stronger and taller. So instead of thinking about dying, how about you think about how awesome it is to be alive? Dad can't run right now, but you can. Dad can't jump right now, but Roma can! Before you die you get to LIVE!”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“The game isn't over until we stop fighting.
Like my ten thousand hours chart.
Ten thousand touches.
Ten thousand tries.
Ten thousand spectacular fails until you finally get it.
I'm trying so hard to stay positive. Just because I'm failing right now doesn't mean I'll stop.
Believe me, if I could, I'd never doubt again. I'd believe every single second and never stop.”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“The harder you work, the luckier you get!”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“We always have choices.
Choose to respond with our best selves.
Choose to focus on what we can control.
-Coach AKA The Hulk”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“Something deep in my character allows me to take the hits, and get on with trying to win.
-Lionel Messi”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“You don't give up on me and I don't give up on you.”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“Most ordinary people are capable of extraordinary things, but most aren’t willing to do what it takes to get extraordinary results. Me? I’m willing!”
― Amy Makechnie

“When there's a will, there's a freakin' way. Am I right?! -Golden Maroni”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“What are the qualities of a hero? Loss. Defeat. A comeback. -Coach Patrick Maroni”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“I kneel by my side of the bed to pray, something I've only ever done because Mom and Dad told me to. But today I decide on my own. After all, Messi's a believer too. I've seen him do it a hundred times - pointing at the sky when he scores, like he's acknowledging something or someone up there who holds pieces of his destiny.
Destiny.
It does seem like destiny flies in the face of ten thousand hours and actually earning a starting position. But even I have to admit - after all the fighting, after all the hard work - there's a piece of me that's looking for a miracle.
So I look up and put my hands together....please.”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“What's really unfair is that Dad put in his ten thousand hours. I've see the footage from his pro days, studied him as a Coach. He had mastered it. Now, as I watch him shuffling inside, I wonder what it feels like to have put in your ten thousand hours only to go backward in time and have to start all over.”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“You think soccer is just a game? Well then, you’ve never played it. -Golden”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“I don't think about what it will be like to say good-bye. I don't ask about her leaving. I don't think about how sad I'll be without her, or say I'll miss her or how life will be a perfect graveyard without her living next door for the rest of our lives...Lucy's eyes, deep and blue and flecked with light from dancing disco stars hanging from the ceiling, remind me of the sky, but also of water. I've never been to Maine, but I imagine that the color of the ocean there looks something like Lucy's blue eyes.”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“The team battles each other for a full five minutes until Sunny gets a pass from Brady and comes in with a sniper-like play to score on CJ. I look longingly after Benny and sunny as they high-five. This is what happens inside the white lines: nothing else matters, not who's cool or uncool, just the team.”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“How do you mark Cristiano Ronaldo? You try not to leave him alone, don't let him shoot on his right foot. And Lionel Messi? Just make the sign of the cross. -Giorgio Chiellini”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“Have a good day, darlin' girl. Be kind, be brave, and remember who loves you! -Golden (the mortifying things I now have to say to my sister)”
― Amy Makechnie

“Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
It's three long words, and I can say it faster than anyone in the family, like a ninja-twister champ. I didn't mean to get so good at it, but it goes through my head over and over like a soccer move I can't shake. It's a super-frustrating disease to fight. One day a muscle moves - the next day? Nope.”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“Slow makes smooth and smooth is fast.”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“If you remember anything I've taught you, I hope it's to treat people well, especially your family. THAT will make you a man.

-Dad to Golden”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“I sat on the couch, alone.
Like a stone.
Because you know what I heard Mom say?
He will PROBABLY pass away.
PROBABLY.
So...there was a chance. A chance he could live.
I would make sure he got that chance.”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“Maybe...Destiny is finally starting to make its move.”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“Maybe it’s not your job to make everything better. -Lucy”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“When you saw him you would think: this kid can't play ball...He's too fragile, too small. But immediately you'd realize that he was born different, that he was a phenomenon and that he was going to be impressive. -Adrian Coria on his first impression of twelve-year-old Lionel Messi, soccer phenom”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“I’m early to practice because I drive with Coach, who, like every soccer season, transforms into this thing where she’s no longer my mother. She’s harder, with a look in her eyes I don’t dare cross, a look that says LUNGES, SQUATS, AND SPRINTS UNTIL YOU DIE! It’s like having the Incredible Hulk for a mom.”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“You'll likely hear some whiners complaining about the weather. That's what whiners do. They whine about stuff. They can't help it. Sad.
-Coach”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that. -Bill Shankly, Scottish football (soccer) player”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“We go back for those left behind, don't we, Golden? -Lucy Littlehouse”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“The world is short on finishers. FINISH.”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“Step over the white line. You're on the field now. Leave everything else behind. BE HERE. -Coach Karl”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries

“I have come to learn that I am not perfect, nor will I ever be. Perfect is too hard. I'm perfectly fine with being perfectly imperfect.
-attributed to Lionel Messi”
― Amy Makechnie, Ten Thousand Tries