Days, months, weeks, and sometimes even years - they all go by us. If we're lucky, we tame them long enough to feel like we were not just standing there as they went by; sometimes we actually feel present in them. But not enough. Too many amazing and wonderful things go by without so much as a nod or moment of appreciation. Because life happens. Because we get busy. Because we just keep going. This blog is a way to stop all of that spinning and pause some of those quiet, simple little moments that make us smile. Being grateful is not something that we just are - being grateful is something we should actively do. This is two friends living many, many miles apart, sharing their tiny little moments of gratitude in pictures with each other and with the world.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Grateful#32-milestones


Milestones.  We remember them with such a warm, nostalgic fondness.  Our first kiss.  The day we got our driver’s license.   Throwing your graduation cap up in the air.  The day we moved into an apartment and our parents’ house was no longer what we meant when we said we were going home.  The memories come rushing back and bring that slow, wide smile – the kind where your teeth don’t show, and you raise your eyebrow as you realize you’re referring to these memories as the good ole days. 

As the coach of the high school tennis team, I have to say goodbye to a group of seniors every year.  The class of 2014 gave me 7 seniors that I absolutely adore, the biggest group to go through my tennis program. Tonight I held a senior night celebration to honor their athletic achievements.   This was the last home tennis match they will play in their high school tennis careers.  It wasn’t how they reacted to the medals, flowers, goodie bags, player bios being read aloud for everyone to hear, or the handshakes and hugs they got – it was the conversations I overhead that made me grateful for milestones. 

Overheard:
“who do you think will be the next me?”
“im totally going to come back and give a pep talk to next years team”
“we should come back from college over break and play tennis and do lunch”

On paper they may not sound like much, but watching them have this air of maturity (or at least acting like they have an air of maturity) brought me back to those same kinds of thoughts and emotions that I had when I was a senior in high school at my last tennis match.  I thought I was so cool, so mature – the same underclassmen I just played tennis with all season suddenly looked so sweet and innocent from my mature and grown up perspective. 

I stood there watching these seniors with flowers in hand, medals hanging around their necks, and I almost envied their innocence more than the innocence of the freshman.   I was watching these kids live out in real time the moments that in many year from now, they will refer to as the good ole days. It’s not often that moments are tangible, and thought it’s not my own milestone moment, I am holding it very close to my heart. 


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