Weird

One of the things that I find weird is when my sister-in-law kisses me on the lips. She’s not one of my wife’s sisters, it’s her brother’s wife, as if that makes it any better. It’s just kind of weird, you know? Everyone else in the family does the little pecks on the cheek, which are as innocuous as they look. But when we’re leaving family gatherings and you’re going through the ritual hugs and handshakes, all of sudden, out of nowhere comes the kiss on the lips.

I’ve even twisted my face slightly to the side, but does that stop her? Oh no. The worst is if I’m sitting in a chair and she comes up from behind, leans over my shoulder and plants one on my lips. I know there isn’t any hidden agenda with this and it’s just how she is. It still always freaks me out. A little.

We just finished our latest travel hockey try-out odyssey. If you have one of the bubble kids, you know, one of those kids who aren’t in the “in” crowd, and you have to watch your kid fight and scrabble each year, it’s an emotional rollercoaster. For the last 7 – 8 years we’ve going through this process each spring and it never gets any easier. Once the roster came out, our first pass is to see if your kids made the team. The second pass is to see who else made the team. The third pass is to see who didn’t make the team, and wonder what is going through their heads at that time. Because we’ve been there. Several times.

For some of these kids, this may be the end of playing competitive hockey. The end for some whose dreams of stardom started off in the driveway or the back yard rink and now those dreams have now come crashing to an end, at the hand of a coach that has decided that you’re not good enough.

And then this morning, as I was stretching out, I realized that we’re only going to go through this one more time before our son graduates from high school. I’ll be 45 next year when we go through it, and when it is over, a chapter in our lives will be close forever. Now that’s weird. For the last eight years, our lives have revolved around hockey, and in less than 24 months, after that school season is done, it will all be over.

Weird.