20 days: Peace on Earth

There are days. You know the kind of days when nothing goes right. It seems like on those days my kids ability to get on each other’s last nerve is in perfect form. They have simply used up all their goodness and mercy. I will also tell you that on those days I cry a little. All three of my kids have lost a sibling, and all three have regrets of something they wish they could have said or done differently. On those days when everything is going wrong, I just want to scream, “It’s like you’ve all forgotten what it is like to lose a brother!”

Friday night’s basketball didn’t end the way we wanted in more than one way. The scoreboard truly didn’t reflect what our beloved Lakers are capable of doing, and in the last five minutes of the game, our #32 went down with a buckled knee. Scared and hurt – we watched seven months of hard work recovering from an injury seem to go down the drain. We didn’t know if this was a career ender or just a minor set-back. It currently seems to be the latter.

Early Saturday morning, found our Erin doing exactly the homework the coach had given them in the locker room. She was icing and elevating her knee while watching Huddle and taking notes on the game. Meanwhile upstairs our little Sally Gal was getting dressed to go to her own basketball practice. I didn’t realize that they had received their jerseys already, and I was shocked when she came out ready for team pictures.

Sheepishly, I asked her to turn around because I wanted to see what jersey number she got. The one she requested is not guaranteed. When I saw what number was printed, my throat contained a heart sized lump. I whispered to Clo to go show her sister because she was feeling pretty low, and this might be the thing to turn her morning around.

I could overhear their conversation. “Aww, Cloie did you get to pick your own number?” Her affirmation made another throat in our house suddenly feel a little lumpy. So even if it only lasted for a moment, there was peace on earth at our house.

Both of my #32’s!