A Nice Time....

...so I spent the day with Collin. He's a really good, sweet, neat boy. All too quickly, he's becoming a young man. He can sit in the front of the car now....am still getting my head around that one. We went up today to watch the karate tournament. It was fun to just hang out and not be totally into the action. Not everyone I usually see was there. They were missed. I found out that one of the highest ranking martial artists that comes to the tournaments is currently in hospice care. He officiated at the last tournament I went to, and was the one who called me out for having "wild and uncontrolled technique." I was shocked to find out that he's been battling pancreatic cancer for about a year now. He will be missed.

...it was nice to just observe today. It gave me confidence to watch the black belt women in action. I won't be the best in the bunch. But I'd hedge my bets that I won't be the worst, either. It gave me cause to keep working hard. The black belt women are a neat, fun, and caring bunch. I look forward to seeing them month after month.

...What's so wonderful about the tournaments are the friendships you make along the way. Even if the tournament circuit isn't run efficiently (or hell...fairly at times), there are some wonderful people that come. You see them grow as martial artists. They celebrate with you on your victories, both on and off the mat. I got so many congratulations today when I told people that I'd gotten my black belt.

....And it was so nice to have my boy-boy there with me. We wound up helping keep score for a few rounds. We didn't see all that we wanted to see, really. But we were together. And we had two hours plus in the car... just the two of us. We talked and laughed. And connected. Love that.