06/25/2024
I'm not crying, you're crying...
If you give a child a hockey puck, they will want a hockey stick to go with it.
You’ll buy them the best stick you can find, and then they will probably want a helmet, gloves, and skates to go with it.
Then, they will probably spend hours begging you to go outside in the driveway to play with them, even though you may want to sit on the couch and watch tv. They will insist. And their insistence will win.
And when a child gets a jersey, they will need breezers and socks and suspenders to go with it. And a TEAM…..And then life as you know it will end.
There will be no more lazy weekends watching tv. You will see more sunrises than you ever thought possible. Every spare minute of your time will be spent hauling bags and stinky gear and crazy kids all over tarnation for hours to practice or a game.
THE GAME.
And your house will be a mess. And your car will be dirty. All because you gave a child a hockey puck.
Your weekends will be spent freezing in a hockey rink. And their weekends will be spent gaining confidence and friends, and learning new skills and having fun and getting sweaty. So sweaty in fact that you will have to learn how to do laundry in a whole new way, like maybe at a carwash using the pressure washer.
And you will be there the day they score their first goal, gets their first assist and kills a penalty by blocking shots. And they will make you SO proud. The other parents will congratulate you. But you feel weird saying thank you because it's not you on the ice or on the penalty kill. It's them. They did this.
And right before your eyes, your little child will be transformed from the baby who spun around with their skates on the ice, (because they love attention), into one of the best hockey players you’ve ever seen.
When you give a child a hockey puck, you give them more than just a puck. You give them a sport, and talent, and hope, and dreams, and friends, a new family, a place to learn about life, room to grow as a person where they can push their limits, and bravery, and courage and LIFE, and memories. And they will have ALL of these things, simply because you gave a child a hockey puck.
Because you gave a child a hockey puck, you too will develop new/lifelong friendships, developed solely from the same passion for the game and love of your team. You will root together. And spew PG-13 things out of your mouths together. Because you gave a child a hockey puck.
Then one day, many years from today, they will be in their room and a puck will roll out from an old dusty hockey bag underneath their bed. And they will pick it up and realize instantly that when you gave that child a hockey puck, you also gave them a childhood that they would never forget. And then they will hug you, and your eyes may leak – because you realize that everything YOU gave up along the way…..was worth it!
All because you gave a child a hockey puck... 🏒
Author: Unknown
