Life With Boys

Life with boys … the hotel refrigerator just kicked on for the umpteenth cycle and despite my trusty ear plugs (packed for just this reason) I am awake again with my mind spinning out thoughts that I must commit to writing before I can quiet the chaos within …

The day did not end on the medals stand … and that is ok (at least it is for me, maybe my vantage point is skewed or naive) … I wish I could find a way to allow the boy room to commit this into his heart … maybe it will come in time, as they say hindsight is 20/20 …

For me it is not about the medal or the records for most of the athletes … it being able to be there … to create the memories, that is what is critical … for there are hundreds who will give everything they have, and never make it this far … and then there are the athletes who do … who will throw amazing practice shots and then foul out when their turn comes … or the athletes who are disqualified for a split-second false start, or a dropped baton … for some athletes their bodies will to succumb to injuries both mental and physical … and that is it, their chance to perform is over … but not their chance to learn and to grow …

I wish we could whisper in their ears as they stand with all eyes directed their way … be it stage or field or mat … and say, “HEY, look up, look at where you are. Drink this in, this is fleeting and you may never see it just like this again. Look at all of the people who have come to cheer you on, to commiserate with you, to worry about you. To make sure you have what you need, be it equipment, or snacks, or secret codes of encouragement. These are the people who have bleacher surfed with you since you came home and said, ‘I think I am going to try out.’ The people who have nursed you through illness, and injury and sometimes brought you back down to Earth when the need arose. Look at all of these people who have driven hours to every back corner gym or field, to make sure someone was there to document and cheer … even if only for a 10-second performance. That is what is critical, the showing up part, and sometimes your job is to show up for someone else, even as you nurse a broken heart or hand. So absolutely, give it everything you have. Then look up, and smile, you’ve made it here, and that is something to celebrate.”