Warriors

I've been waiting to do this post for almost two months and am so excited I get to share this with you today complete with pictures.

When Jake was still in ICU, we got a phone call from the Principal of our school asking what we would think about Jake and Luke being honorary captains of his 13 year old son's football team. In addition to teaching them how to play football, the coaches want to teach them how to grow up to be good men. They are trying to impart important life lessons and the team has done things like participating in a toy drive at Christmas. Principal Smith (now Coach Chris to the boys since he is no longer principal of their school) told us what happened to Jake really affected his son Kaden and he thought Jake would offer some good perspective to his team.  Up until now, neither of our boys have been involved much with team sports and we thought it might be a good experience for them.

In late July, Chris and his family came to the hospital so his sons could meet Jake and give Jake and Luke their jerseys. Those of you that have seen Luke know he absolutely loves his an wears it all the time. Jake has wore his some as well (it had pretty stiff competition with his numerous Rush shirts) and told just about everyone he encountered about being asked to be a honorary captain. A few weeks ago the head coach, Bob and his son along with Chris and his son came to the house to talk to all of us about being honorary captains and what it meant to be part of the team. The boys were really excited and went to a practice this past Thursday to meet the team. I wasn't able to go with Todd and the boys, but from the excitement I saw when they got home, they had a great time and it sounds like a pretty impressive group of boys.

We went to our first game on Saturday and it was a great experience. Two of the players gave up their spots to walk out for the coin toss so Jake and Luke could go out, which I thought was pretty amazing coming from 12-13 year old boys. The other team captains out on the field with them were very considerate and inclusive, walked at Jake's pace and didn't rush him. I haven't got a chance to meet these boys firsthand, but was really impressed with their compassion. Chris had invited some of their teachers from the school to be there thinking it would be nice for the boys to see a few more familiar faces, and we really appreciated them coming. (Side note, the size of #13 in the white and the way he's looking down at Luke with a "why are you on the field?" look cracks me up.)

Unfortunately, we weren't able to stay for the whole game due to very dark skies moving our way. The wind was really picking up and with the wheelchair, you can't really make a run for the car if it starts raining. While we there, Jake was very interested in what was happening on the field and seemed to really enjoy the game.

I am really excited about the upcoming season and what this will mean to both the boys.

Oh, and the team won, 46-0. :-)