Background
I'm sharing stories with my granddaughters, now ages three and five as keepsake collection when they're older.
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Dear Charlotte and Eleanor,
When your dad was five years old, he played soccer and said, "My big brothers get to play football; all I get to play is peewee soccer."
The following year, I never told him that he was old enough to play football. As a mom, I felt six was too young. Somehow he found out. No amount of talking changed his mind. At the first practice, we held hands and walked up to the football coach. The coach studied him, his eyes met mine, and he pointed. "Ma'am, peewee soccer meets over there."
Your dad said with all the seriousness a six-year-old could muster, "Sir, I'm a football player."
From that moment his coach called him 'Little Bug'. He continued to play football and loved the sport. The only reason he didn't play college football was a knee injury. In high school, more times than not he was awarded the 'player of the week'. His position was right guard.
Your dad carried this drive throughout his life. He worked hard and went after what he wanted, good grades, a good job, or being a good husband and father. He excels at everything he does.
I call him a geehunk, which is my made-up word for a geek, he's a math geek/engineer and a hunk. He continues his daily work outs with weights and runs.
Lessons learned:
* hard work and determination will help you succeed in life
* sometimes as a mom you need to know when it's okay to lose a battle
Author Notes
Thank you google a photo of six-year-old football. I had a photo of Andrew, but it came out all fuzzy. Sorry. A little side note that the girls would already know. Andrew's brothers, Greg at this time was 13 years old, and Jeff was 11 years old. A little more about this knee injury. He tore his ACL and meniscus during his senior year of high school playing their school rivalry. During the game he attempted to convince the coach he was well enough to play. When he fell and didn't get up for a while. I wanted to go down and check on him. I had already learned the lesson, from his brothers, Mom's aren't allowed on a football field.
I did send his dad. LOL Andrew already had a West Point appointment. All he had left to do was pass the physical. Even after surgery he could not pass the physical.
As I edited this post this week, deleted as many words as possible. This is too long, but I'll figure out a way to make it work. I'm planning to hold this letter back until Charlotte is 14 and Eleanor is 12. I went ahead and posted it. I am attempting to stick to the suggested writing prompt and number of words. I've decided to add additional letters where I can go into more details. I'l finish the writing prompt first.
As with any of my writing, I did additional editing as I posted. Every time I read my writing; I make changes. I'm never satisfied. Thank you for your help and idea.
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