When I was 17 years old I remember sitting on my dad’s recliner in the living room watching TV. A Pampers commercial came on and the babies were all cute and squishy. Then an anti abortion commercial came on, and after that a Baby Your Baby commercial came on. By the end of that minute and a half, I was bawling like a baby myself. As I wiped the tears from my eyes, wondering why I was crying over stupid commercials, it occurred to me that I hadn’t had a period in quite some time, and I had been suffering from the “stomach flu” for about a month and a half. Since then, my kids have always been able to make my eyes well up and overflow with tears on a moment’s notice. I cried when I sent them off to preschool, elementary school, middle school.. and this year, high school for Jay.
Yesterday was Jaydan’s last football game. I’ll admit, they did not have a good season, but they had a good team. They didn’t go completely defeated, they won one game, but they obviously didn’t do too hot. Last night they played Mullen HS in Denver. I’ve been told they are one of the top rated schools in the state. The entire team was worried, none of them were too sure about themselves, and several of the parents just wanted it to hurry up and start so that it could be over.
The boys amazed us. It was like it was a completely different team. They held the other team back for the first half of the game, and while they still lost… they played hard. I went down to the sidelines after the game was over to help Jaydan with his gear, and the energy down there was amazingly positive and happy. I looked at Jay and mentioned that they were all in an awfully good mood, and I had about four boys respond excitedly that it was because that was the best game they had ever played. I heard several of the boys telling the coach that next year, they would come and play down with the freshmen early so that next years team wouldn’t have to suffer like they did.
Jay rode home with me because he didn’t want to ride all the way home from Denver with a bunch of smelly guys. Once the bus got back to Rampart, one of his buddies texted him and we went back to the school to turn in Jay’s gear. I pulled up and he started getting his stuff out of the trunk. As soon as I parked Kenny Chesney’s “Boys of Fall” came on the radio. I sat in the car and watched my son with his teammates. They hugged each other, they talked smack, they laughed, and they helped each other out. It amazed me that this was the same group of kids that played together way back in September at Gateway HS in Denver. Back then, they weren’t a team. They were a hodge podge grouping of children with a similar interest. There were a few superstars that obviously didn’t understand the concept of teamwork. There were a few that had never played before. And there were a few that played but didn’t have enough confidence to bring it forward. Between then and now those kids grew into a team of hardworking young men with a special bond and memories that nobody that them will ever understand. And yes, I cried like a baby.
Here is a link to the video to the song...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlXDo5WhQXI&ob=av3e
This is good - it made me tear up :)
ReplyDeleteWish I could say the same about Shane's first year of football, they won only one game and went from a bad ass team in the preseason to a collection of individuals with no direction by the end. They'd always play a tough game until the other team scored any points, then they'd toss in the towel. It hurt to see Shane on the sideline, not getting any play time and not being allowed to tell the coaches to let him play or he'd get kicked off the field for the rest of the game. Shitty coaching really does destroy a team. In the preseason the defense didn't allow a single first down, even against the #5 team in the state of California. But after 4 coaching changes during the season, it all went down hill. When they faced that #5 team again, they were blown out of the water sixty something to nothing. This year Shane decided to knuckle down with school and not play football. It was his first time ever in an organized sport, as a safety he was great in coverage, but sucked in run support and tackling (he'd tackle his guy, but he'd wind up on his back being dragged for a 5 yard gain from the point of contact). And as a half back he average maybe 1.5 yards per carry, but on the last play of the season, he scored his teams only TD.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, thanks for sharing your story and helping me remember how proud I was of seeing Shane in uniform and how excited I got to see him on the field.
Ahh it brought tears to my eyes. We raise our children to be responsible adults but yet when they do leave the nest we are naked and sad... Good writing love it!
ReplyDeleteBetty