Don’t forget to sign me up for the NHL!!!

Tomorrow will be my son’s very last hockey game of his “house-league minor hockey career”. Personally, I hope he never gives it up and continues to play perhaps at university or pick up with his pals and maybe eventually join the beer leagues. We have had just as much fun, if not more, watching him play, grow and boy did we acquire a whole hockey family with us along the way.

He started out playing soccer at the tender age of three and a half. His first organized sport. I remember sizing him up against the other players on his team. Josh had an athletic-like build and was a strapping three and a half year old. Star player of the team I thought compared to the tiny team mates around him. Both my husband and I were ex-athletes and yes you could say “stars” in our own element. He must take after us I thought as I waited eagerly for the 1^st game of his promising sports career to begin. As the other tiny little boys ran around like bees after the ball, there was my son in the middle of the field picking dandelions with another spectacled boy and blowing the fluffy white wishes at us with glee. “Go after the ball Josh” I shouted, half shocked at my son and half annoyed at the other spectacled boy who I was sure had distracted him from the game. Needless to say, his soccer career didn’t last long thank goodness and we eventually moved onto what became his love, all our loves…. hockey.

He started off half walking and half skating, going the wrong way, falling down every time he took a shot, but boy did he ever try and hustle around that ice. We found it! His sport became our sport and his love became ours. One night as I tucked him into bed he said to me “Mom, don’t forget to sign me up for the NHL (National Hockey League)” …..if only, …a lofty dream for an average house-league hockey player who eventually became the star player in our eyes. NHL was far beyond our hopes. We just wanted a jersey that fit that year!!

Josh’s hockey career gave us many great times, awesome experiences, drama…oh my word the drama that resulted from the passion of the game, incredible amount of pain when one of his team-mates passed away tragically, lessons that will stay with us forever and most of all it gave us a wealth of fond memories, life-long friendships and a wonderful hockey family. A family that can undoubtedly be counted on THREE things at any time;

1.       A ride to and from the rink

2.       Advice on all things, hockey and life, even when you don’t ask for it

And ABOVE ALL

3.       A RIOT OF A TIME!!!

I remember Josh`s very first goal…I cried. I remember his first punch right smack on the face of a bully on the ice…I beamed with pride…. he was nominated Assistant Captain that year and I was sure the punch had lots to do with it. I remember well when he was nailed against the boards and suffered his first concussion…. I cringed. I will remember his grin on the ice and quick glance at the stands when he scored, which wasn`t that often for a defenseman. I will miss sitting in the cold arena cheering or yelling at the top of my lungs. I will miss the laughs, the tournaments, getting told off by the hotel security at those tournaments to keep it down and turn off the karaoke. I will miss the pub nights after the game. I will NOT miss going to the games a whole hour and a half ahead of time, so my husband could prepare the game sheet and get ready to co-coach and manage the team. I will miss very specially watching my #4 Left Defenseman hustling around the ice with the very best of people…. our hockey family, our forever friends.

Tomorrow is his very last game. The team secured an overtime win of a nail biter to move on to the Finals. We all needed a drink at the pub after to calm ourselves down! I don’t know if the team will end up winning the championship tomorrow. Josh’s team won Gold the very first year he played hockey and it would seem a fitting finish ending with Gold. I won’t lie it would be just GOLDEN to win!! In any event, I know what outcome I can always count on…. lots of fun and definitely another awesome memory! Go Spits!!!

No regrets!

Regret is the past, crippling us in the present - unknown

.... And when you do look back you are turning your back to the future!

Have no regrets. Easier said than done. Every now and then it's easy to let your mind wonder to question the "what if's". What if I started earlier? what if I took the other course? what if I just waited instead of surging ahead? what if I said no? what if I said yes? I could go on for days and we all have them. The trick is to not go there. The "what if" really doesn't matter. It's irrelevant to now and to where you are. Ever seen the movie Click? Do go check it out if you haven't already. Well we don't all have a clicker to rewind or fast forward through life. According to the movie that wasn't the best thing to have anyway! What we do have is a gift called the present. To make full use of it we need to treasure today and let go of yesterday. Rather than reminiscing yesterday and the endless list of possibilities that were never meant to be, change tomorrow by doing something different today. If it's not the outcome you expected, then it was not meant to be.... move on.

Here's my dish:

• Looking back, there will always be things that you could have done better. You cannot go back and change what you did so why bother wasting your time thinking about the possible outcomes. Learn from your so called mistakes and move on to new ones. However, IMO (if you don't know, ask a teenager ;) there are no mistakes, only learning opportunities. I hope you have a ton of learning opportunities. They will enrich you.
• Make full use of the present. Instead of looking at the past missed opportunities, look at the present and make wise choices of what tomorrow will look like. You cannot control the outcome, but you can try. I urge you to try, try and try again.
• We don't regret the things we do. We usually regret the things we don't. So if you have some burning desire to do something, just do it! (thanks Nike! I couldn't have put it better)
• Do remember the memorable moments of the past but only briefly. Once you smile remembering those precious moments, it's time to move on and seize TODAY! 

Time and tide wait for no man - Geoffrey Chaucer

When the kids were little I was gifted with a photo frame in the shape of a school house with slots to put in pictures as the kids went through their school years. It was cute, but I didn't realize the full value of it until recently. I just thought it would be another one of these gifts that would collect dust and get lost somewhere around the house. I remember inserting the 1st picture of both my son and daughter (they each have their own school house photo frame), when they were in Junior Kindergarten. There were 13 slots in each and I recall thinking that this may take forever to fill! How wrong I was. Each year we've been diligent to purchase the kids school pictures. We send one to Grandma, GD (Grand Dad sounds old!) and my sister, insert one of the photos into the school house photo frame and leave a rather large number of photos back in the envelope they came in. It's been a pleasure getting the photos and adding them into the frame. The other day when we received the kids pictures for this year, we did the same thing. I added my son's grade 10 picture and saw that there were only 2 slots left to fill!! It really didn't take that long at all. It's almost full! His school days are almost done. I still feel a twinge thinking of it. I must remember to treasure every moment and not be caught up in life's rat race. It's so important that we;

• Make the most of every day. Don't rush it! Don't wish it away! Cherish it as when it's gone it does not come back. That moment, that time is but temporary and deserves your fullest attention.
• Treasure the kids at any age. When they grow, we look back wishing they were younger or wondering what it would be when they are older. Treasure them now. At this moment. The moments in the past have come and gone and day dreaming about them only takes away from the "now". Who knows what tomorrow will be. Live now.
• Keep a record of important things. If you have not, then start a blog. I am doing just that!
• Slow down - a good wine is best when it's sipped not chugged. The same applies to life.
• Cherish little gifts. At the time given they may seem silly, but they may also bring you the biggest smile and the happiest memories.
• Time does fly so if you can slow it just a bit, do just that!