Football Season 2013

We are going way back today!  All the way back to September.  So far back, in fact, that I am having a hard time remembering many specific details about the football season.  I take that back, I do remember the first game…It was against BHRV.  I remember that Caden was scared to death of being sacked and so every time the ball was snapped, he pulled away from the center and fumbled the snap…probably 10 times.  I remember that I was fairly confident we had more negative yardage than we did positive.  I remember that I wanted to run down on the field, scoop him into my arms, and take him as far away from that field as I could.  I also remember that every game after that continued to get better. He used that game as a learning lesson, put it behind him, and went on to the next game.  The next game he only fumbled one snap.  I remember that with each game he continued to get more and more confident in the role he was given as quarterback.  I remember that I loved his coaches and they were exactly what this young man needed when making one the biggest transitions of his life.  They encouraged him on the football field, but seemed even more concerned for his well-being off the field.  I remember that they won some, and they lost some.  I remember that he scored a game-changing-stretching-over-the-line-Sports Center-top 10-kind-of-touchdown.  I remember his face when he talked about it that night. 

It’s amazing what you remember when you start reminiscing. The thing I remember most about football 2013, is that it was a “safe” place for Caden.   I know that the grandma’s might beg to differ, but when I say “safe”, I don’t mean physically.  During a time in his life when everything seemed so unsure and so confusing, the football field was the place where he felt confident and familiar.  It was the place he could go to put the school day behind him and focus on something that he understood and felt sure about.  I am incredibly grateful for a coach who was so sensitive to the changes he was going through, and always made a point of encouraging and building him up! 

Coach Schmalbeck telling Cade what play he is going to run…

Cade telling his team what play they are going to run…

Caden and Braden comparing “battle wounds”!