Hey Toolers, I haven't sat down to write in a fair while, and today the moment takes me, so write I will. I hope evryone all my friends and even folks i have yet to meet are doing great, I'm on top of the world busy, happy, and involved fulltime with life, it feels great. Sure I've floated a bit, and drifted but I never strayed, always true to myself, always faithful to those who mean the most.
Hockey has started, and as TenaciousJ can attest, there is a certain madness I enjoy in Hockey, and this year my son has joined the mix, out of the blue in May he said "Dad, (thats what he calls me, when i can hear him LOL) I want to play Ice Hockey this year." Words that every Canadian dad longs to hear from their sons lips. (enter draft day cut scene here) I contained myself, playing it cool i sat him down and said "Son, (one of the many things I call him) thats awesome! Maybe we should teach you to skate." (thus dispelling another urban legend that Canadian kids are born with skates on their feet and a hockey stick in hand) I hit the interweb to scroll through the hundreds of hockey schools available, find the least convenient one and sign him up (inconvenience builds character) 2 rounds of skate lessons, 4 fulltime hockey camps and 55hrs of summer icetime later, Registration day!
With 55hr of ice under his feet and a bevie of gently used, and previously enjoyed gear he looks up at me and says "maybe i should try-out for the Rep team." Wow most kids that have been playing hockey have at least a 5 year headstart on my little man, so I sit him down and say "look buddy, if you really want to do that that's awesome, but i have to warn you there is a lot of work involved and you have to be prepared that out of 56 kids only 16 make the team." He pondered what I said for a min and I fully expected him to say maybe next year then, instead he replies "i won't know if I don't try." The next week was 7 days of the most intense physically demading exercise I have ever seen, the army has nothing on rep tryouts. Stride for stride he kept with it, he ran every drill touched every line, finished every check, with enthusiasm, effort, and a work ethic that would rival some of the pros. His skating lacked polish, and his game lack the technical finish of kids with more experience, but not one of the 10 evaluators, could fault him when they found out the ice time he had, the fact that he has been on skates for less than 6 months, excited them, He got them talking, he got them thinking, in one week my son had made a name for himself. He never made the rep team (we never expected him to) but he didnt make it easy on the coaches, he went into the peewee draft, and found that the three teams all wanted him, they bargained and negotiated, and chipped for him, they knew his skill will come his polish will follow, and his desire is beyond compare. There is not many things in life that can make a Dad prouder than knowing that his kids have a desire for life that is beyond compare, knowing that teaching them about hard work pays off, teaching them that they are only limited by their dreams and desires, the brass ring is there for them to take if they want it bad enough, no one can take that away from them.
I know I'm a Dad and there is a certian blind pride, but I have never pushed my kids to do what i dream, I have only pushed them to acheive theirs. I am inspired by my kids. Somewhere we learn fear and hesitation, I'm not sure at what age we find it, but I miss not caring what others may think or how things appear. I hope that supporting the descisions my kids make, through reasoning and understanding, I will do my part to make them great global citizens.
That is a great legacy!
Thanks for reading
Good luck!
JP
comments
Dude...
...that's an INSPIRING POST. We all can learn a lot from your son. His drive and his passion are AMAZING! Very great story, man. Thanks for sharing it! Good luck to him. You must be one proud dad!