Playing Catch Up: The Last One

Last year Will's club soccer team qualified for the National Cup Finals, held every summer in Denver, Colorado. We knew as soon as the boys received their bid that we would go - one final club soccer hurrah for Will as a player and for the rest of us as fans, alongside the opportunity for one final family road trip before Will headed off to college.

While the boys didn't have the tournament they'd hoped for, none of us regretted making the trip. Will played well and the three of us loved cheering for him from the sidelines, plus we had many memorable hours on the road, enjoyed time with our soccer friends while in Denver, played a couple of beautiful disc golf courses outside of Denver, and spent an afternoon hiking at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs on our way home. A part of me wished we could have stayed in Denver longer - our trip was relatively short and the time we spent there was jam packed - but another part of me felt ready to go...Will's departure was quickly approaching and I needed to get home to begin the process of preparing for his move to Iowa. 

My apologies these aren't in any kind of order. Somehow their dates were erased so "post in chronological order" wasn't an option...

Watching Will walk off the field at the end of his final high school soccer season nearly broke my heart. Despite the fact that they made it to the Elite Eight - farther than any team in school history - it felt like the season ended too soon...we just weren't ready. 

Watching Will walk off the field at the end of his club soccer season felt different. My heart was breaking, yes. But I felt closure I hadn't felt a couple of months earlier. He was ready. I was ready. And so we said goodbye.

Way Down Hadestown

I still have lots of blogging catch up to do, but I've decided to tackle the backlog from both ends by going back and forth between current blogs and catch up blogs. Today you get a current blog, courtesy of our recent "road to hell"...

~

When Hallie started high school the only thing I really, truly wished for her was that she'd find a friend. Yes, I wished she would grow intellectually. Yes, I wished she would do well academically. Yes, I wished she'd find the subject(s) at which she excelled and figure out which paths - college, major, profession, etc. - she hoped to travel following high school. But most of all I wanted her to find PEOPLE. 

In the first draft of this post, I wrote what quickly snowballed into an essay about Hallie's social experiences freshman and sophomore years. In the second (this) draft of this post, I deleted most of that essay, deciding that those stories weren't mine to tell. 

I can share the summary, however, which is that finding people and her place in high school took Hallie a long time. Participating in last January's High School Musical helped her find the right path, but the journey was slow. It wasn't until this fall, when she auditioned for and received an incredible role in Hadestown, that she finally found herself having the kind of high school experience with the kind of people I'd wished for her years ago.

Many of us on the Booster Club Board and Musical Committee joked that this show was cursed from the start. I won't go into all of the details, but the fact that a show - any show - made it to the stage at all is impressive. The fact that the show ended up being, according to many patrons, the best Consol musical they'd ever seen, is downright miraculous. 

Every detail - the immersive front of house experience, the layered and meticulously-crafted set, the carefully curated costumes, the innovatively choreographed dances, the captivating musical accompaniment, the perfectly designed lights and sound - came together in the most spectacular way. And the incredible talent... The chorus provided depth and significance. The leads made me want to sing again. The moments that mattered - those moments that make or break a show's story - were breathtaking. 

I don't know that I've ever felt...is sadder the right word?...when a show wrapped. Knowing I couldn't see it again (even after I watched most of four shows and all of two dress rehearsals) made me feel kind of like how I felt when Will played his last game as a Lad last spring. 

I'm so proud of the cast - including my girl - and crew who worked ridiculously hard to bring Hadestown to the stage...and I'm so grateful to all of these extroverted theater kids who have helped Hallie feel like she has a place in the great big world that is high school.

~

Also, a HUGE thank you to Hallie's friends, my friends, and some of our family members who showed up big for our girl. We love you.