Our Senior's Night

This post isn't exactly the kind I usually write, but I want and need it here for the memories...

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I remember when we found out Will made the varsity soccer team as a freshman. He didn't seem all that surprised, but I was shocked. To me he just wasn't big enough, or strong enough, or fast enough, or experienced enough to join a team made up mostly of 17- and 18-year-old boys young men.  

I also remember when Will actually played in his first varsity game. Once again he didn't seem all that surprised, but I was - once again - shocked. I couldn't believe they put that baby out there on the field, relying on and trusting him to get the job done. 

But over the years I've come to realize that at some point in life you - we all - have to be that freshman, recruited because someone sees your potential and believes in you...called up and onto a team of bigger, stronger, faster, more experienced players so you can learn from them. Because even though it's scary, that's how you grow as a player, as a leader, and as a man. 

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When you're the freshman, you think about what it'll be like to return to the team as a sophomore, a junior, and eventually a senior. You dream about spending a little less time on the bench and a little more time on the field, and maybe even about what it would feel to be one of the starting 11. You watch and learn from the captains, considering if that leadership position might be a goal you want to accomplish. But you kind of go through the motions when it comes to the big stuff like banquet and Senior Night; you find it hard to believe that it'll ever be you walking out onto the field with your parents because four years is a LONG time and senior year feels millions of miles away.

And then suddenly it's here, and you wonder where the years went and how it's possible that your time as a Lad, your time in high school, your time at home with your family, and life as you've always know it are all almost over. 

Freshman Year

Sophomore Year

Junior Year

Senior Year

Yes, he's had a lot of different hairstyles throughout the last four years. 😂

Senior Night was chaotic (my to-do list was a mile long, as it usually is on home game nights), but perfect. The Lads, including Will, had a fantastic game. They earned a huge victory on the scoreboard, and every senior got to play. Hallie and two of my besties were able to come to the game. (Hallie doesn't make it to a lot of games, not because she doesn't want to, but because she has a conflict every Tuesday and almost every Friday night.) I hope Will could feel how incredibly proud I was to walk out with him that night, and how proud we've been of him every single time he's put on a Lads jersey for the last four years.

The season isn't quite over - we go again tonight, in the second round of the playoffs - but given that it could end at any moment, we're appreciating every last moment we can.

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I made a mistake up above... Your time as a Lad is never over. Once a Lad, always a Lad.