This past weekend, we had the pleasure of going to San Jose to watch our grandson and his teammates compete for the state championship in ice hockey. Lots of kid are involved in sports and lots of parents and grandparents watch. Nothing new there. However, every once in awhile, something magical happens. The athletes come together, with the leadership of excellent coaching, and they grow and excel and achieve things they never thought possible at the beginning of the season. The team becomes more than a team. They become a family. This is what happened to this team.
There is lots of time, money and energy spent on travel teams. We put more people in a hotel room than is probably allowed. Some sleep on a makeshift bed on the floor. Thank goodness their bear, Rusty, was there also!
The siblings have lots of time to bond with the other kid as well. The girls all gravitate to each other and become fast friends. Memories are made for them also. After a weekend like this, many sentences are started with, "Remember when we did...." They store up these memories and will cherish them later more than they will ever know when they are happening. We call them "hockey sisters".
My husband stayed behind this weekend because he had so much work. It killed him not to go. He is at everything for the kids. After we won our two games on Friday, I called him and said, "Please fly up here tomorrow night for the championship game on Sunday." Mind you, this man has not flown in over ten years! He HATES to fly!! He said yes! Thanks to our dear friend, Jason, who helped me book the flight, checked him in remotely, picked him up at the airport and delivered him to the hotel. The plan was for Pa to be sitting there Sunday morning when Jack woke up! When he arrived, Amber, Mark and I were talking quietly in the living room of our hotel room because Jack was asleep. Suddenly, we hear, "Pa! Is that you???" He was so excited to see him! That alone, was worth the price of the ticket. The next morning, before the game, Mark found our "other" hockey grandson and surprised him as well. "Pa, you're here!!" Our goaltender lives in San Jose and has flown down to the OC to play with this team all year. This "away" tournament for us, was his first "home" tournament!! He was beyond happy to have all of us in his home city. There was a crazy amount of family and friends cheering his every move. His performance didn't disappoint. He was a rock star!
We are so lucky that the hockey parents welcome us with open arms. We have come to know and love some of them more than we can say. (You know who you are!) We laugh and cry together, making our own set of memories along with the boys.
Coffee in hand, my son-in-law walks to the bench before the game. He is a fierce competitor and wants to win, but he never loses sight of the true goal. He takes a skater, wherever they are, and moves them along. He helps them fine tune their abilities, creates a team atmosphere where everyone feels welcome, and never lets them accept less than their best. He doesn't just coach the mechanics of a game he knows so well, he coaches them on life skills that make them better people. He lets them know he truly cares about each and every one of them. He becomes their "hockey dad".
I love this photo. Even though I have no idea what he is saying to them at this moment, I see that all eyes are on him and each of these kids is "all in" at this point. It may sound biased, but they were all so lucky to have him as their coach. Some know it now, some may realize it later.
Here we all are, basking in the victory and loving the moment with the people we love. So happy for these kids and their coaches, even happier that we get to share some of their sunshine. They make us proud!
