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Love and Soccer


I mostly post about current events, but I thought I'd step back in Hall~Smith Family history tonight:

Once upon a time, I was a single mom. I had signed my then-3-year-old daughter up to play soccer for the first time. I knew nothing about soccer. I didn't even know if the shin guards went on the inside or the outside of the socks! Anyway, the coach had been trying to contact me for three weeks to no avail. Recently separated, I had changed my cell phone number and he was calling the old phone which was no longer in my possession. I didn't receive his messages until less than a week before Cadence's first game. I was in a panic. She had missed every practice and was about to start playing soccer with no instruction whatsoever and I didn't even know what side of the socks the stupid shin guards went on!

I remembered that a friend of a friend of mine used to play and had also coached kids' soccer. I sent him a very awkward message that was something like "Hi. Remember me? Can you teach my kid how to play soccer?" To my surprise, he accepted immediately. Then I thought, "Hmm... I hope he doesn't get the wrong idea." At this point in my life, I had sworn off men entirely. They all sucked. If Angelina Jolie could raise a flock of children on her own than, by God, so could I (this was back in the pre-Brad days).

He came and gave Cadence a few pointers. Then he asked if he could come to her game. Of course! He came to her next game and the game after that. One game night he showed up with a crock pot of chili that he had put together because he said he could imagine how crazy dinner was for me to put together on game nights - especially with a pre-schooler and a baby in the house. It was then that I thought, perhaps it was I that had the wrong idea. This guy seemed pretty amazing. He came to every game she played that season. In fact it was after one of those games, four years ago tomorrow, that he kissed me good night. The rest is history.

Cadence's first soccer game


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