Believing in Magic: my story of love, overcoming adversity, and keeping the faith

278 Pages·2016·3.078 MB·English

by  Cookie Johnson, Denene Millner

Praise for
Believing in Magic
“Believing in Magic is for real. A story about growing as an individual, a couple, and then as a family.
Great adversity led them to a challenging life, but being anchored by faith brought about the greatest
love of all. Cookie and Magic have lived, loved, learned, and now leave a great message for all. Have
faith.”
—Pat and Chris Riley
“Cookie and Magic’s relationship exempli�es strength, love, commitment through faith holding
steadfast to the original design of marriage. We’re blessed to call them friends.”
—Pauletta and Denzel Washington
“With humor and a God-given sweet spirit, Cookie Johnson captures our attention. With humble
sincerity and candor, she draws us into the heart-wrenching story of her life with one of the world’s
most famous athletes and powerful billionaire businessman. We are awed by the superior strength of
her unwavering faith, as she determines to keep her loving family alive and together. Powerful and
life-a�rming.”
—LaTanya and Samuel L. Jackson
“We couldn’t put our friend Cookie’s book down. Though we have known Cookie’s strength of
character for decades, reading this book indelibly rebranded her in our eyes. . . . She took us on her
remarkable life journey with transparency, humility, humor, pride, and con�dence. What a stellar
testimony to the power of love, faith, family, and friendship.”
—Rodney Peete and Holly Robinson Peete
“Some experiences we go through are made more di�cult by fame and fortune. Believing in Magic is
an example that one’s true treasure lies in faith, tenacity, and a sense of one’s own purpose in life.”
—Courtney B. Vance and Angela Bassett
“In 1991, Cookie and Earvin (Magic) Johnson came to West Angeles Church amid a crisis greater
than most couples ever experience. It has been an honor to know them, serve them, and love them
and their family unconditionally as they have journeyed from then until now. We are convinced that
this exciting and well-written story will touch and thrill the hearts of many for years to come.”
—Bishop Charles and “Lady Mae” Blake, West Angeles Church of God in Christ
“Cookie has never been one to seek the spotlight, and I’m thrilled that she is now sharing her story.
Her beautifully written book will inspire and empower others to overcome any challenges in their
lives. Cookie Johnson believes in Magic and I believe in her.”
—Robin Roberts
“A poignant account of their time together. This book answers many of the whys of their relationship,
but more important it shows Cookie’s strength, tenacity, intelligence, and sheer will to raise her
family, live an authentic life, and support her soulmate. A must read!”
—Tonya and Dave Win�eld
“Cookie is an amazing woman! Her family’s journey has been truly inspiring and magical. . . . We love
and admire you, big sis and big bro!”
—LL Cool J and Simone I. Smith
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• Contents •
Prologue
Chapter 1: Meeting Magic
Chapter 2: Courting Earvin
Chapter 3: An Uneasy Alliance
Chapter 4: The Runaway Groom
Chapter 5: Saying “I Do”
Chapter 6: Standing by My Man
Chapter 7: A New Season
Chapter 8: EJ’s Freedom
Chapter 9: All in the Family: Adopting Elisa
Chapter 10: The Truth about Basketball Wives
Chapter 11: In This Life Together
Photographs
Acknowledgments
About Cookie Johnson
I dedicate this book to God.
Without Him, my obstacles would have been unconquerable.
Always, He is by my side, guiding, directing, and carrying me
when I cannot stand on my own.
“For God is the author and finisher of our faith.”
—Hebrews 12:2
• Prologue •
“I’m coming home early because I have to tell you something,” he said.
I rested the cold phone receiver against my cheek as I stared at the TV,
confused, alternately searching for my husband’s face and his number—32—
among the sea of yellow-and-purple jerseys darting across the screen. I’d
just settled into the chaise in our family room, a big bowl of popcorn in my
lap, with my girlfriend, Nicole, by my side. The two of us had been laughing
and talking about everything and nothing, really, waiting for the televised
game to start when I got his phone call. Earvin, the basketball legend known
around the world as Magic Johnson, the point guard who’d led the Los
Angeles Lakers to �ve NBA championships, was supposed to be in Salt Lake
City, warming up for the big preseason game against the Utah Jazz. Instead,
he was in a car, heading to the airport, working his way back to LA.
“Why?” I asked. I tightened my grip around the receiver and passed one
more nervous look at the television screen and then at Nicole. Just then, a
commentator announced that my husband was out sick with the �u. “Are
you okay?”
“I have to talk to you, but I’m on my way to the doctor’s o�ce right now.
I’ll tell you what’s going on when I get home, Cookie,” he said slowly. “I
can’t tell you over the phone. I’m on my way to you.”
Earvin’s words—hushed, somber, deliberate—sent a chill creeping over
my heart, into the pit of my stomach, through my bones, all the way down
to the very tips of my slipper-covered toes. Initially, I didn’t know what to
make of it. But in the hours it took until he walked through our front door,
I’d worked myself into quite a frenzy. My considerations began with illness
—maybe he’d broken a bone or tore an ACL or pulled a tendon or gotten
some other god-awful career-ending injury. And then I thought that maybe
he’d had a run-in with a teammate, or worse, Lakers owner, Jerry Buss, or
perhaps the coach, Mike Dunleavy. By the time Nicole said her good-byes
and Earvin was just minutes from our home, I was convinced it was divorce
—my husband’s urgent phone call and unplanned trip home was to tell me
he was leaving me. Sounds absurd, sure—particularly since we’d only been
married just shy of forty-�ve short days and were �nally, happily, together
as husband and wife. Our marital bliss was hard-won, believe me: we’d had
a twelve-year, on-again, o�-again romance that stretched back to our
freshman year at Michigan State University and, somehow, survived a long-
distance courtship and two dramatic broken engagements, both of which
began with similar cryptic phone calls like the one Earvin had made to me
that night. So shaken was I from Earvin’s prior wedding hesitancy that even
on the day we exchanged our vows, I was a nervous wreck, thinking the
man I’d loved for almost half my life would be a runaway groom—so scared
to say “I do” that he’d call my phone, like he’d done all too many times
before, to tell me that he just couldn’t be with me anymore. That his need
for independence was stronger than his desire to commit to me. To us.