... and then there was one ......

Tomorrow morning Brad and I board a plane for Lexington, Kentucky (via an Atlanta connection) and I find myself having a very hard time going to bed because of the finality of this flight.   We are headed there for my son Jeff's final football game of his college career, so it's an extremely bittersweet trip.   Often I have opined about how great it would be to have a free Autumn weekend to do as I please or how I wasn't thrilled about yet one more flight, but when push comes to shove, I realize what a big moment this is in my life ..... and his.

For the past 9 years - starting with his Freshman year in High School - at least one day of my Fall weekends has been planned around a football game.   It started out as JV games on Friday nights (or maybe even Thursday afternoons if memory serves me correctly).  He never played until 9th grade, so this was a new experience.  I can actually remember his Junior year when he became a starter, and how I was amazed that he could catch the ball when he played Tight End and hit so hard when he was playing Defensive End.   Where did this kid come from?!  His Dad and I were sure he was destined for the stage when he was younger, but I don't think either of us dreamt that he would chose the stage of a football field.  And then by his Senior year when he started getting interest from some of those schools interested in "not quite big enough for Division 1 but you're a good student" players, it never occurred to me that this would go beyond four years.

Butler chose him and he chose Butler and I have to say that it's been a wonderful fit.   I do literally remember driving away from the Freshman dorms his first year there and feeling like the worst mother on the planet for leaving her son on a sweltering August day in an un-airconditioned dorm as he was ready to start 2-a-days........   But we both survived.   And I think in perhaps many ways, he thrived.   Jeff found his niche and ran with it.   And I could not be prouder.    He graduates in December as a 5th year Senior, choosing to stay and play the one more season of eligibility he had.   He already has a job offer - a blessing in these times.  They are lucky to have him.  He will be staying in Indianapolis... with Michelle, his girlfriend of three years, whom we love as well, and all of the friends he has made over the years.  There are so many proud moments that I am not sure I can recount them all, but I know one was last year when he received the award for "The Butler Way" at the end of the year banquet.   In the scheme of life, those are the ones that matter.

So one more Friday I will board an early morning flight, with my #52 jersey packed in my luggage.   I will wake on Saturday morning and slip it on and wonder if perhaps the people on the other side of the stadium will see it glow when I wear it with pride as my son takes the field.   I will cheer.   I will smile.   More than likely I will cry.  But mostly I will be filled with such love and pride.  I am so proud of the young man he has become.  I told him that once in a text message a few months back........ he replied that he had much more "becoming to do".   I am not sure what I have done so right in my life that I have been blessed with the two sons that I have, but I treasure them and how they have enriched my life.

Here's to health..... may you get through this last game unscathed.
Here's to hope.... for a Butler victory and your bright future.
Here's to joy ... what you have given me the last 22 years.
Here's to love... words cannot express how much I love you and how proud I am to be your mother.

Thanks for the memories Jeff.   It's been amazing!

So the song I have chosen today is a classic.......   "It's a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong.   It truly is a wonderful world........