Hockey.

As my two older boys raced through their homework yesterday after their first day back at school, I knew what the rush was all about.  Not because they didn't want to study spelling lists, complete their reading or struggle over Homelinks, but because they had a date at the skating rink down the street.  A date they have kept for the last two and a half weeks, including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the same with New Years.  
My middle guy is a die hard hockey animal who plays every game with more speed, determination, and raw love of the game than star quality skill.  He watches more of the NHL network now than Nickelodeon, takes slap shots in the driveway before hopping on the school bus, and last night when I kissed his cheek, fast asleep in an exhausted, tranquil state, he was muttering something about a Boston Bruin being traded.  No lie.  
My oldest son does not officially play hockey, but has learned to love skating, the pick-up games and the camaraderie of the neighborhood park on a crisp winter afternoon.  Even after his right hand was run over by a hockey skate the week before Christmas requiring many stitches and a splint to keep the severed tendon in place, he's still at it. *
I have watched these two boys of mine walk out the back door with Edina sweatshirts and skull caps, leather "Choppers", and sticks threaded with skates over their shoulders for weeks now.  I am proud they are enjoying time together, that they are being so responsible out on their own at the park (even though I still worry), and that they are healthy, active, and able to embrace the love of a sport that has always been dear to my heart.  But it doesn't come without a certain level of risk and serious injury.

Last Friday when Benilde- St. Margaret's player Jack Jablonski was checked from behind and left with a severed spinal cord and paralysis, it left us all stunned.  Not surprised necessarily, but stunned and scared.  That young boy lying in the hospital with the possibility of never walking again could have been ours.  In a sense he is ours. The hockey community takes care of their own and so does this community.  Hopefully the news coverage, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, You Tube videos and Caring Bridge site that have all been set up for this young man will not only increase awareness about what is already illegal in the game, but provide Jack and his family with the outpouring of support, love, strength and blessings that will be necessary to navigate the tough road ahead.
At this point in time no one is sure whether or not Jack Jablonski will ever walk again, let alone get up on skates, but I can bet one thing to be true.  I know this sounds crazy, insane, and incomprehensible to most, but when he is conscious and able to share his thoughts with his community- local and hockey- that he will say how much he loved this sport and how much it gave him in his young life.  


 *I must take this opportunity to thank the local surgeon I have known for most of my life who kept his office open late just to stitch up my son when his hand was cut at the rink.  Dr. X, I know how private you are so I won't mention your name, but you are amazing and I can't tell you how much we appreciate what you did.  You are caring and professional and unbelievable at what you do.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!   xxoo to both you and your wonderful wife!