Progress

Which would you like first, bad news or good news? If you're a "just give it to me straight" kind of person, here you go.:The outcome of Oldest's injury and latest Orthopedic Surgeon visit, is a resounding "NO". Poor guy has not been cleared to play his senior year Homecoming football game. You can imagine his disappointment. Naturally, he's pretty ticked off. We were all hoping that the doctor would give him the a-okay and he could get right in there. However, healing hasn't quite finished yet. His ankle is still a little swollen and he's still having range of movement pain. So, Oldest will be on the side, still looking good in those amazing Homecoming jerseys they have...WITH their names on the back.

You know when the Hub saw that on the floor in a pile in Oldest's room, it was game time! The Hub put that thing on and ran around the house in full "let's play football" mode. It is pretty sweet, I must admit. I'm thinking how I can swipe it from him when Homecoming is over. Kind of nice for us bleacher folks to be able to see the last name of all these huge boys, and know who's who.

So, for us we'll be heading to the game tonight. Who knows, maybe Oldest can get in there for one play! He's worked so hard, and this game means so much to them. We're thinking their record is going to 4-0 tonight, for sure. And the coach's love him. Naturally, I think they should. But from a more objective perspective, if I were a football coach and I had a kid this determined, committed and passionate about playing for me, I'd like him a whole lot too. One coach is also a teacher for Oldest this year, and at Back to School Night this week, we tried to steer the conversation towards his academic performance in the class. But whadya know? Coach wants to talk to us about how impressed he has been with Oldest's development in his sport, and those "guns" he toting around.

Seems like pretty much everyone wrote this squad off as a "developing year" and yet, here we are with a team looking some kind of fierce out there. The difference, I think, is the heart of these kids. They play well together and they are woven together tightly in their desire to play hard as a team.

And on to the good news. The other three all have games tomorrow. This week we have some kind of reprieve. Believe it or not, the games are spaced in such a way that both the Hub and I will be able to attend all three games...together! Miracles do happen.