So, tonight, we had the Senior Night at CMA. It is the last home basketball game of the season and all the seniors are honored. Their jersey is on display and they get taken out of the ball game one by one during the last few minutes. In between games, the parents of the seniors walk them out to center court and they sign a basketball which will be placed in the trophy case along side so many other signed basketballs. It was a very surreal moment for me as well as so many other parents. Of course, the reasoning was different for me than for them. Every time I step foot back in that gym, I am overwhelmed by the feelings that come rushing back to me.
The cheers of the crowds, the whistles of the referees, the double thumbs up from my dad and the peach roses I received from my mom the night of my last ball game. High school was such a great time in my life. The memories, the friendships, the ball games, the trips and of course, my husband. It is all fun with little to no responsibility. It is all so fresh in my mind. also. Like it just happened yesterday. I can still remember what I was wearing the night I signed that Senior Ball. It was a black dress with a single strand of a long silver necklace. I hadn't started dying my hair as frequently as I do now so it was still a really pretty brown color. It was hot rolled... yep... no straightener. In fact, they weren't popular until I graduated college. (Which is another blog entirely) When my coach called a time out and that sub came in a slapped my hand and I walked off that court for the last time, a chapter ended as fast as each tear flowed.
Walking off that court, I was excited about the life that was ahead of me and sad about the one I was leaving behind. I still remember every single emotion of that night.
Isn't is strange how close by those times are? As I sat there tonight, watching this group of Senior enjoy their night, it hit me that my senior night was 15 years ago. 15 years...Those memories are too fresh to be that far gone. As I was in the middle of that observation, a little hand walked up to mine and pulled at it. I looked down to see my son, my baby boy smiling at me. I leaned down and he said, "I love Mommy". Another wave of emotions overcame me.
15 years later and there I was, in that same gym, with the same man, watching the same tradition being carried out before my children's eyes. What a life! What an amazing, blessed life! How many people get to say that? Before I left, a mother of one of the seniors caught my arm and made mention of how those kids who were graduating tonight, were the ones sitting on the sidelines watching me sign that ball. More than likely, those kids children, will be sitting on the sidelines, watching my kids sign that ball...
My life has been an amazing one and I do not take it for granted. I am blessed by my past and the wonderful memories it holds. I am blessed by my present and the little hands intertwined with mine as we make our own memories and I am blessed by future because of what I know is ahead.
There is a quote by Edmund Burke that says, "Those who cannot remember their past are condemned to repeat it."
I hope he is right because what a great past it is...
I pray that with every day you add to your past, you are able to have the same hope!
#11
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