Last Dance-Last Chance

After watching the season end for other seniors and their families in prior years, I thought I was prepared, but now I really don't know if you can ever be fully prepared for the last high school game that your son plays.

My son played on a team with 10 seniors. All but 1 had played at least from 7th grade on together. The other young man had gone to a private school and then decided to come back to public school his junior year. These guys spent time off the field together as well as on the field. They were full of 'school' spirit and did all they could to go and support other athletic teams at our school. Three were National Honor Students and almost all the others excelled academically as well.

As I watched these guys grow from 'little boys' into 'young men', my care for them and their families continued to grow. Over the years, some of these families have had trials to endure and the baseball family has been there for them. Other families have had celebrations and the baseball family rejoiced with them. If and when a parent for one reason or another wasn't at a game, everyone cheered for that young man as if he was their own son.

With all that being said, you would think that I would have expected what I saw at the conclusion of the last out, but I didn't.
After the guys spent about 30 minutes on the field together, family members starting drifting out on the playing field too. Each senior had tears streaming down their faces as they hugged moms, dads, siblings, other parents, each other, etc. It wasn't because of a 'loss' that the tears were freely flowing, it was because the end of an 'era' had come and it was now the beginning of a new way of life for all of us. For so long, our lives have been intertwined and we find ourselves wondering, what will we all be doing next year? My son and 3 others will be playing at the next level, but I can't imagine anything being better than the "High School Baseball Family' that we have been blessed to be a part of. After about an hour and a half, young men and their families took the slowest stroll of their lives when leaving the baseball field. I don't think that there was anyone who wanted to get in their car and leave for the very last time, because then it really would be over.

My sons best friends high school career had ended the week before and so he was there to watch our game. As he watched everything that was going on he said, you know...this is so different. Last week when our game was over, we all took our jerseys off, handed them to the coach and left. There was no tears, no hugs, nothing. At that moment, I realized that sometimes the very best things in life are accompanied by sadness too. I'll take the tears and emotion of that night along with great memories (too numerous to count) and consider my son and our family very blessed to have had an experience that others can only dream about.

What has my son's HS experience meant to me?
There are no words for a mother to describe what watching her son become a better man, great friend, encourager, teammate, leader, etc. feels like. His relationship with Christ is what makes him who he is, but HS baseball has been an avenue for him to develop and practice those qualities that we hold in high regard. As you can tell...I'm proud, but I think that's allowed here , and I am very thankful to be his mom!

 

Wow..what a wonderful post. You can't get any better than that.

I was hoping when I started this thread that these are the replies I was looking for. Thanks for sharing, Mom.

 

Great post sportsmom...
i always hated the last night or even senior night .. even before my son was a senior..
i know exactly what you were saying ...