Saturday, April 19, 2008

There Are Many Reasons For Tears

Its been a long week. A heart stopping, heart wrenching, emotional week.

Jock actually did get to play a little in his game on Thursday. And his coach had a talk with him about having benched him at all. There was a little misunderstanding about some perceived attitude. All seems to be well now, and it looks like we'll be playing again on Tuesday. (Ok, yes, I know... there isn't a "we" as I won't actually be out on the field or in the dugout, but... *shrug*)

Bug had a game last night, where he finally ....FINALLY.... broke out of his hitting slump. His first at bat, he hit a really weird single. I say really weird, because he hit the ball, it headed out towards the gap between the third baseman and the shortstop..... when it abruptly DROPPED onto the grass. Like it had simply hit a wall. Strange. However, it got him to first base. His next two at bats resulted in triples! WooHOO! The final one bringing in the winning run in the last inning! He was totally on top of the world after that. Can you blame him?

Coach and I have done some deep soul-searching on how involved we get with the boys' sports. And while we haven't actually talked about it, I think we've reached a good place. He loves to coach. He's good at it. He knows his stuff. And he makes a difference in these young lives that he touches for a short time. We've heard from some previous players this past week about how they wish they had him back. They miss him. And this is coming from the older kids he's coached. One of whom is actually Jock's current coach's son! Coach has heard from some of the parents of his current team that their boys are learning more about baseball this season. We even talked to the president of the local football league here today when we went to get Bug registered for the upcoming football season. He told Coach that even though he missed the deadline to submit his application for a head coaching spot, he really wanted Coach to fill out the assistant coach's application. He told Coach that while it was ultimately his (Coach's) decision to either sit back and be a parent, or continue with coaching.... he (the president) thought it would be a great shame to not utilize the talent, passion and knowledge Coach has for coaching. And yes, Coach filled out the app.

We drove the boys out to the crash site today. It was both humbling and moving. We were there for probably only ten minutes or so, but it felt like time sort of stopped for that little bit. We walked around the memorial that has sprung up for D. We traced the path the SUV took. We imagined where the boys had ended up when they were thrown from the vehicle. Both my boys were silent. My ever-energetic Bug was still. My super-stoic Jock had tears in his eyes as he left a message on a card there. Coach got very clinical and matter of fact, talking to others asking questions. And I cried. And prayed. Prayed that God would look out for my babies as they grew. Prayed, selfishly perhaps, that I would never have to experience what D's parents are going through. Prayed that my boys would never forget the lessons they've learned from this.

And then we loaded up the car and drove home in silence. But you can bet there was a seat belt on every body in the car.

7 comments:

Burgh Baby said...

While that doesn't exactly qualify as the Fun Day Dr. Burgh prescribed, it sounds like a good activity to help everybody begin the healing process. It had to be very sad just being there.

(And yay! on all the good news in the sports world!)

Unknown said...

Being at the crash site is good. I remember needing to be there, needing to feel, need to re-trace, needing to pray and needing to talk to my deceased friend in spirit.

I also remember not saying a single world to anybody for the entire ten hour trip back to Vancouver that night. There's nothing much to say when all is said and done, but much to contemplate and absorb.

More hugs sweetie.

Cecily R said...

I am so excited for Bug!!!!! And for Coach. He needed a confidence boost and it sounds like he got one!

I bet driving to the crash site was difficult. Oh what a hard lesson to have to learn.

Thoughts to all of you!

Lynell said...

Thanks for your post. I am a mom of 4 boys who keep us running from game, training, conditioning, and another game. It's a great life!

So sorry about your son's friend. That is a hard thing to go through. And so normal to pray that it never happens to you.

Karen said...

Yeah for the boys doing well! And finally getting that benched thing sorted out.

Trust me, the night Sam's brother was killed we went into Becky's bedroom and both cried out a prayer asking God to spare us that tragedy. It may be selfish, but it's a parent's primal instinct.

Shellie said...

Hooray for the sports turn to the positive and sombering on the crash site. I have the hardest time keeping the seat belts on the boys, they just take em off at the drop of a hat.

LunaNik said...

First of all, it's wonderful to hear that the boys are doing well and that Coach is...well...still awesome at coaching.

How terrible to lose such young people in such a tragic accident, isn't it?? We had an accident here in Jersey recently that killed two of the four boys in the car. They were 16 & 17 years old. They were racing down the highway late at night and lost control of the car. Terrible.