Bittersweet

Yesterday was a difficult day for me.  I was both excited and terribly sad at the same time.  You see, yesterday marked the beginning of Christopher's sporting life.  Yep, his very first game in an organized sport.  As a father, there are very few things that get the pride and the tears flowing more than watching your sons' compete for the first time.  It was something that I had looked forward to from the day he was born.

When Christopher's soccer schedule was sent out last week, I was heartbroken.  His first game was scheduled for 1:00pm at one of the local soccer complexes.  Normally, that would be a perfect time.  A later start like that gives the day time to warm up.  That's important as a player and a spectator during early spring.  Yesterday however, a 1:00pm start time meant that his game would be starting at almost the exact same time as Aidan's baseball practice would start across town.  Uh...oh...

Baseball "practice" you say.  Usually, the first practice is not that important, so missing it for Christopher's game would be no problem.  Unfortunately, Aidan is playing with a brand new team this season, and we were scheduled to meet the coaches and the team for the first time yesterday.  So, that first "practice" suddenly became very important.

What this meant was Lori and I had to divide and conquer.  While she took Christopher to his soccer game, I took Aidan to his baseball practice.  What a terrible feeling that was.  I was heartbroken.  I was excited for Aidan to meet and practice with his new teammates, but there is only one "first" game.......and I missed it.  

From what I am told by Lori, Christopher had a great time playing his first game.  He is still very new to soccer, so much of the game was spent figuring out what exactly he was supposed to do.  He will get better as he becomes more familiar with the game, but he is having fun, and that is all that matters right now.



Aidan had a great time meeting his new teammates, and knocking the rust off his baseball skills.  Like always, I love watching Aidan play baseball, but it did not make up for missing Christopher's game.   I will have to live with that guilt for the remainder of my life.

William



“To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.” - Confucius