A Dream Realized

The Travelers game was great. I didn't expect it. It was a total surprise. And here I thought that a family night that didn't involve one person feeling left out, or some great outpouring of emotion, or loud noise was a pipe dream. We of course were a little late and couldn't find the "ample" parking that was on the directions but once we were in we walked right to our little area where they had the food all set up. Story was so excited he couldn't eat, but he drank his weight in Sprite. We talked a little bit with my co-workers, but mainly we were running back and forth refilling Story's cup and getting more hot dogs for me, which made me need some Sprite on the way home.

When the game started we went to our seats. This is how we sat: Justin, Holly, Story, Hayden, Me. I don't know what Justin and Holly were saying but I could see Justin down there talking to her like he was talking to a friend, laughing and interested in what she was saying, proud that it was his daughter saying it. Hayden and Story watched the game and I don't think Story really knew what he was seeing at but still looked over at Hayden with this "WHOA, did you see that?" expression every time something happened. At one point Justin took Story to see the mascot, who looked like a moose, but I couldn't say for sure what he was. After the fifth inning we left because it was getting late and we still had a long drive back to Russellville.

On the walk to the car we laughed together. On the ride home we sang Hank WIlliams and David Allen Coe as loud as we could. That might have been the first time that the five of us have done something together like that. It was a pretty amazing thing because with all of us there it seemed totally balanced, there was no child fighting for attention, there was no adult fighting to gain control. We were just happy, we enjoyed the personalities of the others in the group, everyone always had someone to talk to or entertain or to entertain them, nobody was the odd man out, unless it was me, but I'm the mother and I think that's my job sometimes. I got to see it - how it should be. It was an amazing night. It was like a moving snapshot, that smiling family with the happy kids and the competent adults, out of the house doing something fun, just one night in years of nights that you want everyone to see, that you want everyone to think of when they think of you. I know that from now on last night is the night I will think of when I think of how things should be, should have been all along.