a date night for some families might not look like an empty high school football stadium, but give us a late summer night with a little pig skin and an open field and we'll lose all track of time.
when i met Jake, he had mentioned in passing that he played high school football. i was sure that sealed my fate of never dating this guy. the always homeschooled, never prom queen with the football jock? no one's going to believe that story. i didn't find out until much later, him being quite humble, that not only did he play, but he was the "Wakeman Saves the Game" kind of headline maker with a stack of hidden newspapers to prove it. a torn ACL in the last game of senior year robbed him of a full-ride college scholarship.
seeing that guy walk onto a football field is something to behold. what i wouldn't give to see him suited up, tearing through paper signs running onto the field under the lights on a friday night (or at least that's what they tell me happens). there's a very simple respect that overcomes him. it's strong and silent. in fact, it took a little time and space before he was ready to loosen up and be silly with us. but i get it, brotherhood developed here. sacrifice and perseverance were offered here. great victories and tragic loses happened here. futures were changed here.
there's been a lot of jokes going around lately about how hard it is to be a female football fan. buzzfeed will recount all the details for you if you missed it ;) a friend of a friend asked me recently what is it about football. when did i become a fan? do I only like the Seahawks because they're the world champs? girl, please. I do love watching the boys in blue and green. I am very proud of my city. but the Hawks have nothing on my running back from Anacortes High. I was a football fan the minute I saw that purple #34 jersey hanging in his closet. i'm on his team. where he goes, i go. where he leads, i'm all in. we play for keeps and i root for him. watching the sunday game with our friends or tossing the ball around an old field is so good. but even more, it's a chance to step into his world and see, for just a minute, the reigning Jake pay homage to thing he loved most.
when Phoebe of elSage Designs sent Zoey this 12th man raglan sweatshirt it squeezed my heart so tight. i missed out on game nights and team pride. but this one won't. not with a dad like hers. seeing Jake chase her across 50 yard lines and play peekaboo behind goal posts is enough to do me in. but knowing his dream has gone from winning championship games to championing for his family is a thing i'll never stop adoring. now he sacrifices and preservers for us. he battles for our victories and grieves loses with us. he changed my future forever. every time Zoey asks for her "team shirt" and wears it with pride my heart swells 1000x bigger. she loves her dad and she'll never go a day wondering how he feels about her. thank you Phoebe so much for this mini token of a such big part of our story! we love you!
Oh my goodness I love this post SO much!! What I would give to see my guy suited up on a Friday night too! He was the quite the star they tell me back in the day. �� Just loved your perspective girl! And I didn't know you were homeschooled, time to pick your brain, we are praying hard about homeschooling our boys, even though it's a few years away we are feeling led down that path. Let's have a Friday night football game date, planning our first one of the season soon! XO!!
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