Friendships....I am so grateful for mine.

What a wonderful Weekend...
Josh had a great time really bonding with the "boys" he wrestles with and some new friends as well.
Wrestling this year has been a great experience, the coaches and parents have embraced us and Josh so much. The coaches have taken Josh so far this year, teaching him and always giving him encouragement where needed and instructions on how to do better. They all have said how far Josh has come this year and if he sticks with it, he will be a quite the wrestler.
Wrestling is that sport that it is all about you. There is no one else on that mat to help you. If you are going to win, it is all you.
I never watched wrestling, never knew how to get a point, what a take down was, how you pinned a guy or that you get 1 point for an escape.
Now I can even tell you what a wizzer is.
How to cement a guy.
Even how to get out of a head lock.
Josh can even tell you more, as he should since he has to do the actual moves.
But I also know that I have learned so much more...
How great it is to belong to the wrestling community, the people we have met thru this sport are some of the most wonderful people I have ever met. We spend alot of time together, basically from Dec-April at least 2 nights a week and one day on the weekend. Then tournament season begins in March and that could be almost every weekend.
We had such a great time getting to know the people we spend this much time with this weekend. Because we were away, we got to socialize after the matches, and just hang out laughing and enjoying each other. We joked about being Mom's of boys and all the stories are so much alike. We have the youngest boy in the group so you can imagine some of the things we have to look forward too.
I loved that Josh also got to know the boys better, he was so happy and he made new friendships as well. I loved our conversation on Friday night.

J: Mom you know that boy in the orange sweatshirt?
M: Dustin or Dillon
J: yeah Dillon
M: Yeah?
J: we really get along well.
J: and Ben and I got to know each other better too.

That just made me so happy. It is hard sometimes with an only child. You get the little guilts that they are growing up alone in some ways. But times like this make me feel so good about what we are doing. I know that he will have great relationships, and I know alot will be thru sports.
I know also now as an adult, that the people I spend the most time with are my friends...and they become your family. Don't get me wrong, I love my Sister, (Hi Denise) but the reality is we live two different lifestyles and we don't get to see enough of one another.
The people you have more in common with are the people you will spend more time with for the most part. So I am hoping for my son that these young relationships that are developing from sports are going to be long lasting ones that will get him thru alot of his life.
Friends, I know have got me thru some pretty rough times, and I couldn't do it without them.