Brave football players

Little league football. . . .
Maybe I should refer to our football team as my "fall family".  For the past few years I spent 100% of my time with our boys and the families that we play with each Saturday.  Our season starts the last week of July and doesn't end until after Thanksgiving.  And it is quite a time commitment.  This year I haven't spend near the amount of time on the sidelines that I am accustomed to.  In fact, I miss the boys and most of all the moms!  The past few years one of our moms has been fighting her own fight with breast cancer.  Who knew that this year I would be following in her footsteps.  This past Saturday was our first October football game.  As this month begins and Breast Cancer Awareness is in full swing our players dedicated their game to me.  I was of course trying hard to not get emotional, but as I showed up to the game the boys had pink shoelaces in their football cleats.  On the back of their helmets a pink ribbon graced the battered silver color.  And they had sweatbands with pink ribbons. 

At half time the boys crowded around me and gave me a sweaty, smelly hug.  It was pretty close to a tackle!  And the team captains awarded me with the game ball.  It was touching that my Dallas was a team captain for the week and got to present the ball to his mom! 

I love football. I love these boys.  They work SO hard and spend so much time.  Our coaches spend even more time to ensure that we are undefeated yet again.  And the moms are always a text or phone call away when I need them and we ALWAYS greet each other with hugs!  This is my unique family for 5 months a year.  I watch these boys each summer get back into shape.  How Brave!  I watch them condition at practice.  I'm not that Brave!  They work through the summer heat, blinding rain, and freezing snow.  They are Brave!  And then they run out onto that football field and put any fears they have aside and fight the fight at hand.  What a great lesson for me to keep in perspective.  I need to be as BRAVE as these young men and focus on the fight I have ahead and put my fears aside.