This weekend will be the last weekend I will get to watch my youngest son’s last
hockey games with Littleton Hockey.
Between both my boys, I have watched hundreds of games, driven to and
from thousands of practices, traveled to many states for tournaments, and
volunteered many hours of time in support of their love of this sport. (MY love of this sport)
When I married my husband, I knew nothing of this sport called hockey. I quickly learned, though. He was a hockey coach, and he gave me a rule book to read so I would know what was going on during games he was coaching. I knew if we had boys that they would play the game. And they did. Our first son started skating when he was 3 years old. When our youngest came along, he followed suit.
I’ve watched them learn to skate forward, learn to skate backwards, learn to shoot, learn to score, and I’ve watched them try to play goalie. (I’m so thankful that didn’t stick for either of them. Goalie parents are special, and I’m not that kind of special.)I watched as they made up their “cely”. I watched them fall down and get back up. From their earliest age skating, I told them “If something isn’t broken, then don’t stay down on the ice.” I might have sounded pretty tough and mean, but you can bet that if they went down on the ice, I was the one that was holding my breath and praying that they were okay.
I watched as they went through all of their tryouts. Hockey tryouts are not a “everybody gets a ribbon” kind of tryout. There were many years of disappointments when I watched as they learned they didn’t make the team they wanted to be on, or maybe didn’t get on the same team that their friends were on. But, there were also those years that those “disappointments” turned out to be some of the best years they had playing hockey!
They both learned to work with many different Coaches. Some they liked. (Hopefully their Dad was one of those.) Some weren’t their favorites. But, each Coach taught them something new whether it was a hockey skill, or just how to deal with different personalities. They learned to respect. I’m so proud of the young men hockey has helped shape my boys in to.
When the games were close ones, I had a hard time sitting in the stands and watching. I would usually go somewhere that I could see when our team would have the puck, and I could pace when the other team would have the puck. However, I always knew what was going on with the game, and especially if my boys were on the ice. I was so proud to watch them play as hard as they could. I was so proud when they scored or when they gave the biggest check. No, there won’t be games every weekend. But there will be College Club games. There will be Beer Leagues. I will still be nervous during the close games. I will still hold my breath if they fall.
They have made friendships that they will have forever. (I have made friendships that I will have forever.) They will all be going their separate ways once the Season is over. Some will head off to college, some will play Juniors, some will be working, and some we might even see in the NHL someday. But there will always be a bond. The hockey bond.
All the wonderful memories made. Out of State tournaments-Wishing we were somewhere warm, but ending up in ND or MN. Tournaments on holidays-Thanksgiving dinners in hotels, being ready to travel right after celebrating Christmas. Tailgate parties in the rink parking lots- Margaritas from our trunks and sneaking them in to the ice rinks in our water bottles. Happy Hour, Happy Hour, Happy Hour-whether celebrating a win, a loss, or waiting for a game to begin. And then there are my friends. Wonderful friends. I’ve been to school graduations, weddings, and funerals. There are some I will see on a regular basis, and some I may never see again. But I know, if I do run in to them again, we will have the bond. The hockey bond.
There were a few years I think I counted down the months until this day would come. But now it’s here, and I am sad. Sad that this year, I have missed quite a few of his games. Maybe it was God’s way of weaning me away from it. Maybe He knew it would be too hard for me to miss it all “cold turkey”. Well, time will tell.
