Life with boys … this one has been simmering for a bit … this weekend the boy watched from the sidelines as his teammates battled for a chance to compete at the state level in wrestling … it was not the ending any of us envisioned after 12 years on the mat … but as he well knows injuries and illnesses sometimes have other plans … I did not expect to be hit with such a wave of feelings as he stood there in his street clothes … I did not expect the tears to start to fall down my cheeks … but there they were …
He has come so far since he announced that “he was going to be a wrestler” in the first grade … We have had the pleasure of sharing his joy … the pain of defeat … and the hundreds of heart-stopping moments in between …
I am reminded of what we have tried to instill in him along the way … he was there to learn something and have fun … if he managed a little of that with every practice and every match then he is the greatest winner in my eyes … He has grown as a competitor, a leader, a teammate and a friend … he’s learned the hard way how to handle loss and success with grace and dignity … and some of those lessons have been bitter and sweet and exhausting … and we would not have it any other way …
We must extend a huge thank you to everyone who has helped him along the way … on the mat … in the classroom … and in the stands … he does not know how lucky he is at this point, but I hope someday he will … I leave with you with a few highlights from this long road of ours … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HILIycwDSl8
Life With Boys 
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