Thursday, December 12, 2013

When Little Boy Dreams Become A Young Man's Reality

I am sitting here with tears glistening in my eyes as I type this post.  I've had tears in my eyes for much of the past two days as I debated whether or not to write this post.  But since J has been sharing his news all over Instagram and Facebook I guess I can share it, too.  Just before Thanksgiving, J attended a camp at a small college located in North Carolina.  It's a college that had been on his list of possibles to apply to and he took the opportunity to tour the campus while there for the camp.  He really liked the school and felt it would be a good fit for him.  As always when he attends a camp, he hoped he had left the coaches with a positive impression of his abilities.  On Tuesday, he received an email that confirmed he had in fact, done just that. You see, my J, who has dreamed of baseball since he was a tiny boy, who has worked tirelessly over the past several years to make that dream a reality, has a college interested in having him play for them.  I saw the email first, since his email comes to my phone these days.  With all of the college info, camp info, etc it ensures that nothing gets missed.  My heart stopped when I read the email.  I had to read it several times just to make sure I was reading it correctly.  I immediately forwarded it to Coach C, who was as ecstatic as I was.  I couldn't wait for J to see it, so when I got off work mid day I drove to the high school and had him pulled out of PE class.  He came to the office, a little worried when he saw me.  I quickly assured him nothing was wrong and handed him my phone so he could read the email.  If someones face can actually explode with joy, J's did in the moment when he realized what he was looking at.  And then my almost grown up boy, the one who has become stingy with hugs in the past several years, enveloped me in the biggest bear hug I've ever received. He was laughing and crying all at once, so excited he could hardly stand still.   It's a moment I'll cherish forever, getting to be there when my baby was handed his most heartfelt dream.  However, there is still much work to be done.  While this coach is definitely interested, no offer has been made yet.  He states that he hopes to continue the recruiting process with J.  Luckily for J, Coach C already had plans to come to our house for dinner tonight.  He asked if J minded waiting to respond to the email until he could be here to help him write it.  J, of course, welcomed Coach C's input and they crafted and sent a response tonight.  So now we wait for the coach to respond and see where this will lead.

To say we're proud of J doesn't come close to describing the emotions we're all experiencing. Everyone, hubby, me, N, A, his grandparents, friends we've told, are so happy for him.  And of course, Coach C is as proud, maybe even more so, than we are.  He and J, and that special bond, always hit me right in the heart and that was certainly true tonight.  Watching them work on the email, talk about where J goes from here, and just seeing the sheer excitement they shared gave me more than one misty moment.  For this victory is as much Coach C's as it is J's, though he humbly gives J all the credit.  But we know J couldn't have made it this far without him. For so long we've worked and focused on getting J to this point, knowing that it was a long shot.  To have this opportunity present itself is tremendous.  As always, J is willing to keep working hard to prove himself worthy of the interest this coach has shown. Coach C has already laid out the next phase of his training, advised him on how to proceed with his upcoming school season, and most importantly of all, continues to believe in J and be his strongest supporter.  And what can I say about this all?  I'm filled with pride at everything J has accomplished.  He chose this path so long ago, and never let anything deter him.   Along the way there have been setbacks, people who told him he wasn't good enough or that making his dream a reality would be too hard.  He just kept working toward his goal, never losing sight of what he wanted.  And now, someone has laid his dream, like a gift, in his hands.  It's his for the taking and as a mother I am privileged to have been on this journey with him.  I'm overjoyed my baby got his moment, the moment when he realized that dreams can come true if you believe in yourself enough to make it happen.  As Coach C said to me, it's been J's drive, determination, blood, sweat, and tears that made this happen.  And we're damn proud of him for it.