Wind Songs: The Will Of The Wind

My oldest son graduated from high school when he was 17, and still unsure of what he wanted to do with his life went to the University of Huntsville in Alabama as an Undeclared.

He had two years to decide what he wanted to do, and about a year and a half into his college career he walked into my office at work with a serious face, sat down in a chair across the desk from me and told me that he was ready to declare a major.

I had assumed it would be something related to Business.

He told me that he wanted to be an Athletic Trainer.

I was shocked.

Not because I thought that he was incapable.

As long as I had known him he had always been capable in everything he ever wanted to do.

But because the subject of Athletic Trainer had never come up in conversation between us.

Not even once.

I didn't even know it was on his radar.

UAH did not have an AT program and so the next year Sean transferred to Middle Tennessee State.

And from that point on he was a young man intent and excited about his chosen profession.

I remember during his first year sitting at the kitchen table at the house and being a guinea pig for him as he practiced wrapping knees, shoulders, arms, ankles.

Every year talking to me about what he was learning, his conversations becoming more and more complex and in-depth as his knowledge base grew.

He loved what he was learning and it showed in his face every time he talked about it.

The last year of his undergrad he all but disappeared - holed up in his apartment in Murfreesboro studying for his national licence exam.

And then graduate work where he was paid a monthly stipend by the college which was (barely) enough to feed and house him, and in return the college worked him long hours.

Slave wages in return for hands-on OJT.

When he first started working with the MTSU Blue Raiders football team I went to a couple of games.

He was little more than a glorified water boy at that point, and I could not tell you anything about the games at all.

I spent the entire time watching my son standing on the sidelines.

Last night LC and I went to a football game that my son was working.

It was at the same school that both of my sons graduated from, but my son was working as the AT for a high school team just south of Nashville.

He works for a hospital and deals with various high school football, track, basketball and volleyball teams, one season continually running into another.

I know what the final score of the game was, but truthfully I cannot tell you much about the game.

I spent the entire time watching my son standing on the sidelines................

High school cheerleaders for both teams hyped up the crowd while dressed in cute track suits and cute headbands and matching gloves to combat the 40 degree temperatures.

But these hardy boys were the stars of the bleachers.

Outlandishly enthusiastic, energetically dancing and cheering and yelling and running with school colors along the front of the stands every time their team scored a touchdown, unfazed by the cold.

Too funny.

Too much fun..............

Goofballs one and all they made me laugh.............

My sick but recovering son on the sidelines, freezing and hoping for no injuries on the field...........

The team Sean was representing scored their first touchdown within the first five minutes of the first quarter.

Things just went downhill from there and Franklin County was hopelessly outmatched............

Cold parents and other supporters during half time...........

While in Cody Wyoming we went to the 4th of July parade downtown.

We had a really great time watching the parade and saw a good number of marching bands in addition to the many other floats, horses, wagons and other western groups that took part.

But LC and I were both stunned when we saw one of the marching bands.

There was only one band from out of state in the parade and it was the band from my two sons high school in Tennessee.

We looked at each other in amazement at the time and wondered "how weird is that?"

Here is the link to the parade - Franklin County High School is wearing blue and white uniforms with white feathers in their caps close to the bottom of the blog:

http://livingthejuneauadventure.blogspot.com/2011/07/cody-july-4-parade.html

And so we watched this great little marching band on a very warm day in downtown Cody Wyoming and then watched them again last night a little over three months later on a cold and windy field in Winchester Tennessee.............