The Heart Stopping Moment

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Today’s Blog Post

The Heart Stopping Moment
My heart stopped at that moment. I can say it was the worst moment for our family… well almost the worst.

At that moment I am a grandparent. I am watching my grandson Clifford pouring out his entire energy and full effort to play his part in that football game. His job is to stop the play that the other team is trying at that moment. Clifford plays “defensive linebacker” – meaning if anyone tries to catch the ball or catches the ball, Clifford will put him down.

If you know anything about football you will know that when the opposing football team has given the ball to one player, that player is super charged and his heart is beating the same speed his legs are. He is running full tilt… nothing will stop him.

Well it happened at one of those moments… the ball was passed to the player on the opposing team. That payer was one of the guys Clifford was covering. The player also had a number of guys covering/blocking for him. It was a virtual wall of fast moving human flesh and bones advancing down the field.

Clifford and a fellow player ran full tilt into that advancing wall with one intention of stopping the ball carrier. Bam! Kerpow! Smash and Crash! The play stopped with a muddle of arms and legs and bodies a mere 25 feet from where we were sitting in the stands.

Everyone got up but one guy… who slowly rose and then went down again.

Oh no…! It was Number 35, Clifford Lindsay, our grandson. Something was wrong. He had been hurt in that play. He couldn’t get up – or walk. A signal was given to his sideline folk that then responded and came to check him out. Finally after a few minutes they walked him off the field to the applause of fellow players and the fans in the stands.

What happened?

Well it seems that he now could have a slight concussion. Sheesh! How could that happen to my grandson? He is good at what he does. He shouldn’t get hurt from a tackle; he knows how to protect himself.

It happened because he has the heart of a Lion and the courage of a Pit Bull. And an advancing army of fully charged, opposition, football players doesn’t scare him at all. And at that moment with nearly two thousand pounds of football players coming at him fast… he stepped in and stopped the ball carrier!

But as a grandparent I could do nothing but hold my breath.

The slight concussion he possible has will heal. I have had the same in the past… and he will in the future. But sitting out the next important games will make him more upset than anything in this world.

This is his first year on this team… and he is playing first string… and in almost every play. How do you deal with the heart and courage that has been sidelined?

I went over to the vehicle he was sitting in to offer words of encouragement. Clifford’s response was, “I sucked!” – from a completely discouraged kid.

As we drove home from Oshawa last evening I thought long and hard about him.

He is learning the harder lesson of team sports. You have done your best and something stopped you personally. But at the end of the night his team won 33 to 27. His effort made a difference. If he had not played as hard as he did… the score could have been 33 to 34 – or more!

Again I have been reminded of how much difference the full effort of one player has made. What an important Life Lesson that will be… after he can get his head around it… and his head feels better.

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/