CHOOSING THE RIGHT

Every third Thursday of the month I volunteer, during school lunch hours, at the Spirit Store. When your child comes into the cafeteria, it is customary to go over and visit with them for a minute at their table before the chaos begins at the store. So this past Thursday that is exactly what I did, but what I came upon will forever be embedded in my memory of not only the Spirit Store, but more importantly the actions of Nick.

So this is what went down: During lunch, you are only allowed 6 kids at a table. Nick was at his table along with 5 other boys when one of the boys who was already at the table with him, who is in need of friends, wanted to switch seats with Nick. So Nick got up to trade places with this boy when another boy swooped in and took this boys seat. Needless to say, the boy that took the seat would not move which forced the boy, that is in need of friends, to move to another table that did not have all the boys at it. The next thing I know, I see Nick grab his tray of food and move to the other table with that boy, leaving all of his buddies at the other table.

I asked him quietly why he moved. He was fighting back tears trying to be as discrete and brief as possible, so I got the point and left it at that. So on Friday afternoon, while we were laying on our living room floor, I decided to ask him about what happened the previous day at lunch. He told me the same thing as the prior day but with more detail. As we were laying on the floor discussing it, I was expressing to him how proud I was of him and how he handled the situation, tears began to well up in both of our eyes. I told him that his actions truly made that boy feel important and liked.

As a parent, you strive to teach your children to be an advocate for those that perhaps don't have the personality or the means to be one for themselves and to do what is right even when it is not necessarily the easiest thing to do. That is exactly what he did. He made a very BIG statement without saying a word to all of his buddies about how to treat others.

WHO ARE WE? CHAMPIONS!!!!

Nick and his buddy Tyler getting ready for the BIG GAME!

Matthew and Danny Pellar going over the plays with Coach Dave Cichey

Matthew on the sideline waiting to go onto the field.

Championship photo
Nick jumping in for a photo with the team. He really was an awesome fan!
Matthew, Chris and Ian after the celebration!
Our family

So this is how it all went down in a nut shell.

4 quarters of football with a score of 0 to 0.

It was a complete defensive show down!

Overtime

Raiders when the coin toss and get the ball first on the 10 yard line

First pass=touchdown! Their crowd goes crazy!!!!!

2 point conversion attempt by the Raiders...receiver catches the ball and is then hit by Wilson and he fumbles it into the endzone, where our fastest player, Chris, recovers it and runs it back for a 100 + yard, scores us 2 points on the board and our crowd goes absolutley BALLISTIC!!!! (myself included)

The Raider fans are silenced! :)

6 to 2: The Raiders have the lead

Longhorns take the field with the ball on the 10 yard line.

1st down=run the ball=gain a few yards

2nd down= run the ball=gain a few yards

3rd down and goal= punch it into the endzone

Longhorns 8: Raiders 6

THE FANS CLEAR THE STANDS AND THE CELEBRATING BEGINS!!!!!!

It was a night that we will never forget. Words can not express how thankful I am that Matthew had such an amazing experience for his first year of football. The coaches were awesome and his teammates were amazing! From the beginning of the season to the end, Matthew grew by leaps and bounds. He initially was faced against our largest player for a tackle drill and he had no idea what to do nor how to hit....by the last tackling drill, he took him out along with one of our best tacklers on the team. It was AWESOME.

Needless to say....I LOVE FOOTBALL!