Manners, Morals and Pride

I can't get over the great feeling that was with me all day Thursday. Those feels are still washing over me today.

Feelings of pride in my grandson, Andrew. You see, his 9th grade basketball team finished playing their last game Wednesday evening. He didn't anticipate getting any playing time since it was a play off game.

Andrew has wanted to be on the basketball team for the past several years. He tried out for three years but this was the year he made it on the team. The coach told him straight up when he put him on the team that he probably wouldn't get a lot of playing time.

The coach told him he was a hard worker and a nice kid. Both are true. Andrew has had to work hard for most things in his life from the first day of his premature life. Things don't always come easy for him. He has struggled through a lot of things in life that most people take for granted - breathing, eating, bad eyesight due to having been given oxygen as a baby. He has gone through more surgeries in his young life than most people go through in their entire life.

Yet Andrew is such a positive, caring, and kind person. He has a commitment to God that he lives in his life everyday. He sets the bar high for his friends and teammates, sometimes reprimanding in a nice way when their language or words are not the best.

Andrew is grateful and not ashamed to show it. He thanks me always when I do things for him, take him places, give him things, etc.

And grateful would be a good word to describe how he felt when he was put on the team. When the coach told him he wouldn't play much, he told the coach he didn't care. He just wants to be on the team. He worked hard during the practices and would have gone for more or longer practices if he could.

What makes me swell with pride over this special young man now is his manners and gratitude. After the game was over, he told his coach, "Thank you for having me on the team."

To that, the coach replied something like, "I would have you on my team any day, Andrew!"

How many kids take the time to thank their coach period? Probably not many.

You Go Andrew. You are my Brave Heart as you always have been!