After almost two months of absolute insanity and an equally long break from the blog (with the exception of Hallie's birthday post and my March Monthly Medley midway through April), I'm finally coming up for air.
The next round of crazy looms right around the corner though, so I plan to spend the next couple of weeks documenting the many big and small moments (maybe I'll make it a series and give it a name - "The Long and Short of It"?) that made these last few two months ones I never want to forget.
Yes, I made it a series and gave it a name.
~
Immediately after spring break, we dove headfirst into high school soccer playoffs - a season unto itself. The amount of work that goes into preparing for these games - both on and off the field - is tremendous, and from day one, everyone in our family was all in. (Will's preparation was of course as a player, senior, and captain, while mine included behind-the-scenes tasks like programs and concessions, Tom's involved 3D printing matracas around the clock, and Hallie's had mostly to do with trying to rearrange her dance and choir rehearsals to attend games.)
The Lads battled their way through four rounds - a school record - before coming up just short of a berth in the State Tournament. While the final loss was heartbreaking, the Lads had so many "on paper" accomplishments of which to be proud: the most success in the tournament, the most goals scored, and the fewest goals against, to name a few. And beyond the statistics, they built a strong, capable, and close-knit team that when the rubber hit the road, delivered a truly remarkable and record-breaking season in the face of relatively low expectations.
As you can see in the photos and screen captures below, the Lads were all over the news in those final weeks. The community rallied around them, and I hope they felt that love and support as they continued to go again, and again, and again, and again.
Please forgive the hodge podge, non-chronological sharing below - there was no way for me to get the timeline of those few weeks right.
As the mom of a senior, I've spent the last couple of months saying goodbye to A LOT of people and places and teams and clubs and committees and responsibilities that have been a part of my life for four - and in many cases, more - years. But Lads have been, without a doubt, my hardest goodbye. I couldn't even look at the pictures and videos above until I wrote this post, and even then, I didn't feel ready to do so. There's just so much here, so much joy and heartbreak and passion and hard work and literal blood, sweat and tears, and I still haven't unpacked it all.
Lads, it's been a privilege to be your biggest fan.
