Today was Adrián's first game of the season; the first of many, and the first game of his last year in little league. He's been in the same league and with the very same team for so long that it'll be bitter sweet when he moves on next year.
Baseball has been a part of our family for a long time now, and I was super excited about this game because I was finally going to get to take some action shots on my new DSLR camera! I stood at the sidelines taking pictures and playing with my camera settings, when I was abruptly brought back to reality by a foul ball that made its way out of the gate and in direct contact with my left shin.
Omygosh...that hurt so flipping baaad!!! To say I saw stars is an understatement!
While I rubbed my throbbing (and now bruised) shin, I thought of the countless times I have told my boys to "shake it off" when they've gotten hit by baseballs. I mean, that's a term that's often used in baseball...but, really? What is the kid supposed to do, shake off what—the pain?! Who can shake off being hit by a fast ball? That s**t flipping hurts! Plus, it doesn't work! I stool there shaking my leg like I was pulling some beak dancing moves and the pain was still there...and 5 hours later, it still is!
My throbbing shin brought me back to last Wednesday night when Jovan, my firstborn, due to leave on a mission trip to Costa Rica on Thursday morning, said he was having a hard time emotionally. As his eyes welled up, he explained to me how he would miss us and how he was afraid of being away from his family in a far away country he didn't know :(. In an effort to calm him down I told him to take a deep breath and think about the amazing life changing experience he was about to have. How many other teens would like to have that experience. 'Time will pass quickly, you'll see, and you'll be back in no time', I told him. Not realizing it at the time, I basically told him to shake it off. That he would be just fine.
I realized how easy it is for those of us who are in the other side of the fence to tell the player who took the ball to the shin to shake it off. It is easy to say those words when you're not the one experiencing the throbbing pain and the bruise that it leaves behind – be it a ball to the shin or letting go of someone you love.
From this moment forward, I will try to not use that quote lightly – because physical and emotional pain doesn't just go away by shaking it off. Pain is one of those things that requires time and love to make it better; like the ice that is helping the swelling and the pain on my shin :).
~•* Yamilka *•~
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