One Life by Megan Rapinoe

In the summer of 2011 when I started dating Jeff, I would drive to his rental house in Fairfax where we would make pesto tortellini, drink Firefly Chardonnay and watch women’s soccer on his new, very large television. He said the big screen TV was a divorce present to himself, and I love people who treat themselves to divorce presents. Mine was a pair of $120 Bed Head leopard pajamas that I thought were just fabulous. So, when Jeff and I would sit on his couch eating the tortellini, in those hot summer days of 2011, he would always turn on women’s soccer. When he asked if I liked women’s soccer, I lied and said, “Of course I do! I’m such a big fan of the sport.” The truth was I had never seen a single women’s soccer match. As we watched the Women’s World Cup that summer, I tried to educate myself on the sport. The woman to watch was the fast and fearless super athlete with dyed pink hair, Megan Rapinoe. “One Life” by Rapinoe is her story about how a young woman from Redding, California, became an Olympic gold medalist, and two-time Women’s World Cup champion. In  2019, she was awarded Sports Illustrated Magazine’s Sportsperson of the Year, and then FIFA Women’s Player of the Year. She grew up in a loving family as the youngest of six kids with her twin Rachel, a mom who was a waitress at the local steak house and a dad who worked construction. When they were just six years old, Megan and Rachel started playing on soccer on teams with boys. Their parents would drive them all over the state to compete. College took them to Portland where their world opened up for the first time. We get to see how soccer catapulted Rapinoe to fame but also held her back financially. She quickly became an advocate and fought for equal pay, and an activist for LGBTQ rights. Her career has had highs and lows, and even controversy. In 2016, when she followed the lead of NFL player Colin Kaepernick and took a knee during the national anthem to protest racial justice and police brutality, she faced alienation from some fans and the media. The criticism only made her fight harder for her beliefs. From her early affair with one of my favorite soccer players Abby Wambach to her long-time relationship with basketball- superstar Sue Bird, this book is a page-turner. I am now a big fan of Rapinoe and admire that she continues to fight for justice and equality every day. To buy this book on Amazon please click here.