A Father's Pride

I have seen JD do a lot of things in his 11 years. He's played a lot of sports. Scored his share of goals in soccer. Made a few baskets in basketball -- he even scored in double digits once this year. I've seen him score a touchdown and block a kid that outweighed him by 100 lbs. I've never seen him hit a home run, but he did bounce one over the fence for a ground rule double in the state tournament last year. But tonight I almost burst with pride. His accomplishment tonight made me forget how embarrassing it was to go the the girl's section at Wal-Mart and pick out cotton tights in his size.

You see, tonight I saw JD play Winthrop Paroo in South High's production of The Music Man. He sang. He danced. He even wore those tights. But I was proud. My son has a lot of friends. Friends he's played sports with for years. He's competed. He's won. He's lost. But tonight, tonight I was most proud. He did something I probably couldn't do. He did something a lot of his friends wouldn't do. He may never be the athlete that he dreams he is in the backyard. He may never be the sports star that his parents envisioned he would be on November 15, 1997. But tonight, his singing made a lot of people smile and it made his dad pretty darn proud. I can tell everyone... "that kid up there in tights... that's my son, and I think he's doing great!"

Dee