It's Game Day

It’s game day – tonight we get to watch the Panther basketball teams compete, just like we have nearly every Tuesday and Friday night for the past two months.  Tonight, I will take my place in the stands and cheer on a group of amazing young ladies and young men, several of which I love like my own.  Tonight, I will beam with pride and cheer as one of “my kids” scores or makes a steal or takes a charge.  Tonight, I will smile as I watch my daughter in the student section with her friends.  Tonight, I will sit in the stands and watch the most handsome young man I have ever known prepare the bench for his teammates and handshake with the starters as their names are announced.  Tonight, I will watch my son take his place on the bench next to the coaches and be the number one fan of his buddies and teammates.  Tonight, I will be a basketball Mom and I will cherish every moment of it.  That is what I will do tonight.

But Today – Today, I will wake up with the horrible lump in my throat that shows up every Tuesday and Friday morning.  Today, I will spend the day putting a smile on my face while fighting back tears as I think of another game day upon us.  Today, I will do my best to keep my heart in check while I think about what it would be like to have our son in a jersey and on the court like he used to.  Today, I will remind myself that this journey is for a bigger purpose – over and over and over.  Today, I will get through the day with as much dignity and grace as I possibly can.  Today I will make sure and show extra kindness to everyone around me, knowing that someone else I meet may be having their own “game day”.  That is what I will do today.

Today is game day and game days are hard – I have come to terms with the fact that game day will always be hard.  Game day is a day where my heart and my brain struggle to meet up and I feel the loss that this journey has brought in an exponential way.  Game days are a day that I have grown to love and hate – I LOVE watching those kids play, man I love to watch them play – but I always hate the sting that this day brings to my heart.  Game days are just plain hard.  Nonetheless, it’s game day, and I will rise up – I will be as brave as the young man I will admiringly watch on the bench – today I will acknowledge the sadness, but I will make sure to let the joy win out.  Today I will celebrate.

What’s your “game day”?  Whatever it is, know that I am helping to pray you through it!