I spent thirteen years of my life loving a sport that didn't always love me back. So much of my blood, sweat, and tears went into this sport and I never saw the hard work pay off. Not completely. But there is one thing this game gave me that just might have made all of the pain worth it. That one thing was all of you. The ones that were there from the beginning. From the day we picked up our gloves for the first time until we all parted ways. You will forever be my teammates, my friends, my family.
Do you ever think about the good ole days? I do. What we had when we had it was so rare and so special and none of us really realized it. In the end there were so many things going on that made me hate the game but the one thing that kept me tethered, even now, was those of us who started it all. The five of you let me stick around far longer than I ever imagined I might. Even though we drifted apart, even when we played together, we were still teammates and I still needed you to pull me out of the mess that was the game. And believe me, without even realizing it, you did just that. You even gave me the strength to leave something behind that was tearing me apart inside even if I didn't realize it at the time. I don't think I ever told you how much I loved playing together and that even when I hated the game, playing next to the few of you who I played next to when we were 5 years old meant the world to me.
Even though I look back and have so much rage towards this game we all loved there isn't anything I wouldn't give to be back on that field playing the game I once loved with the teammates who made it all worth it. So now, when I look back on that part of my life, instead of being angry, I choose to be happy and remember all the laughs we shared on and off the field.
