The Heart of a Champion

This week brings an end to a couple of chapters in our lives. More specifically, the end of my girls' elementary school years (soon to be in another blog post to come) and also the end of another baseball season for Chris. Because of the season his team played, the Indians got to participate in the championship tournament. Unfortunately, they did not make the big win, but they scored second place in the league for their division. It was a great team for Chris, and this was probably his best baseball season ever.

At our end of season party this week, the coach said a few kind words about each of the players while handing them their trophies. He addressed things like how well they played, their team spirit, tenaciousness, and how much they'd improved over the season. For each player, he picked one word that would remind him of each of them. I was curious to see which word he would pick for Chris. When I heard it, I was touched ... he said, "when I think of you, Chris, I think of the word 'heart'". And I knew immediately what he meant. For as tall and big as he is, my son is really kind of a gentle giant. He has a sweet, eager to please nature, and the coach said he was one of the most "coachable" (I know that's not really a word, but you get the idea) kids with whom he ever worked. He said Chris performed well as an outfielder, and that his batting could sometimes makes guys from the other team have to back up. His game improved a good deal this season, and his heart made him a great team player.

So Buddy, you may not have won the championship this time around, but you had a great season and should be proud of the way you improved your game. I think you showed you have the heart of a champion, and I'm so very proud of you!

Love,
Mom





Chris, at his last game of the season.



At the end of the night, at one of the last games. Go Indians!


Farewell to the ball park ... until next season! :)