Saturday, August 26, 2006

FOUR YEARS PLUS ONE GAME

Blake's first high school football game ended in a victory for us - 35 to 6. That makes 4 years plus one game that these boys have gone undefeated. They did not lose a game in their four years of JFL and so there are high expectations for them. But also, pressure, I guess. As Blake says "we all have targets on our backs." It was a beautiful day...if you are a tree frog from the rain forest and love sauna like conditions. Also, I am sure my hair looked beautiful by the end of the game. The two brief down pours we had were actually a relief, though.
Here's the thing. Injuries happen in football and I have been told by my son "Never come onto the field if I am lying there hurt." And I have accepted that. But today, when our best player took a helmet in the groin, and the other team's crowd cheered at his injury and continued to cheer as he struggled to get up; and then remained silent when he finally walked off the field....well, that is just plain wrong. What is matter with these ADULTS? I suppose they were out to get this kid all day. He played on the varsity team last night and actually scored (against their varsity team) yes he's a freshman. He is a phenomenal athlete - at everything he does. And I suppose that is what happens when you have made a name for yourself. But come on!! Is there no sportsmanship left? No compassion? I expect that behavior from kids sometimes, but from adults? Well, I will just say some victories are sweeter than others.
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Now, for my one of the sweetest people in the world - second only to Aunt Rena. We just saw Miss Judy at Sam's.
When Blake was a toddler, Paul traveled A LOT. There was a time he was gone 7 out of 9 weeks. Like to Pakistan. Or Columbia. Or Peru. Or Brazil. He was not in Chicago, or any place where he could get home in a couple of hours. When I got pregnant with Kayla, I needed a person with whom I could leave Blake for my doctor's appts, etc. So a friend introduced me to Miss Judy. The biggest blessing of my life at the time. When Kayla came along and I first introduced her to Miss Judy she said "oh, she's just no bigger than a minute." And I soon left both kids there occasionally. When Kayla was a toddler, I went through a very difficult time with what was eventually diagnosed as depression (another post, someday). I was raising two preschoolers practially alone with a husband that spent more time across the world than at home and I had very few outlets or contact with other adults. So one of the things we decided to do was take Kayla to Judy's two days a week. It was basically her pre-school. Blake was not thrilled with it so he didn't go most of the time. So from the age of 2 to age 5, Kayla spent two days a week at Judy's and it was such a blessing to our whole family. Judy ran her daycare like a preschool but with lots more personal touches. She fed the kids a home cooked meal every day - usually leftovers from her family's suppers. That is where Kayla learned to eat broccoli. They were allowed 30 minutes of tv each day and the kids voted on what show it would be. She taught them how to use the phone. She ordered butterfly larvae and she and the kids watched them mature and one day had a "butterfly party to release them into the sunshine of the backyard." On hot summer days, she would dress the kids from her "emergency clothing bag" and let them go crazy with water in the back yard. She kept my kids after hours during emergencies and "never charged for after hour visits." She had a birthday party for each child, and Christmas parties and Halloween parties with toddler relays. We invited her to Kayla's birthday parties. When she retired (right when Kayla was entering kindergarten) she had a mini carnival in her backyard and I helped paint faces and hand out prizes. One day she told me "Kayla is very good at letting me know what the other kids are up to." Basically she was telling me that Kayla was a tattle tale; but what a sweet way to let me know. And she called Kayla "Lady Jane" because she said she had the best table manners and was quite prissy. And since she has retired, she has had 2 reunions for "her kids" where they got together to eat pizza and play games and "memory trivia." Some days I would pick Kayla up and she would not want to leave with me. Thankfully I was smart enough to know that was a good thing. It meant there was just one more person in this world who loved my child and whom my child loved. Kayla still asks about Judy and hopes for another reunion. Now Judy works at a special school for at- risk children - in the birth- to- 3- year- old class. I cannot imagine a better person for that job. For one of Judy's birthdays, after she had retired, all the parents got together and gave her a charm bracelet with a little silouhette of each child that had their names engraved on each charm. What a blessing Judy was to us. And what a thrill to see her. Kayla will be so disappointed to hear that she missed her. I bet in the next couple of weeks, Kayla will convince me to drive across town to drop in on her to visit. And I bet Miss Judy will be one of the people I will see in Heaven.

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