Well that is a wrap for Rugby for the season. I am so proud of how my team did this year!
He said
For the first weekend in a minute we were not trailer focused. I had to work all weekend and while Danielle had originally thought she might sneak up to the trailer for a day on the weekend if we were able to get the load of gravel we needed at the site, when we didn’t get confirmation, based on Emelia’s and my schedule she decided to stay put. We’re going to be up there next weekend and the weekend after anyway, so it just didn’t make sense for her to go this weekend. We’re excited to get up to the trailer solely for the purposes of relaxing and not with to-do lists.
Thursday this week, I was given a schedule that allowed me to go see Emelia’s second softball game of the season. The team she is on this year is a good chunk of the team that had a much better record than theirs last year, so there is a hope that they will do better. The first game (that I wasn’t able to make) was against the best team in the league last season, and while they didn’t win, they were definitely competitive with them. The game Thursday started with Emelia’s team taking the lead early but after a couple of innings of pitching challenges, they had fallen behind. However, in the last inning, and down by six, the team rallied for seven runs in an exciting come-from-behind win! It was so fun to see their excitement and to hear, someone on the team yell, “Yay, we won, we never do that!”
Not to ever be lazy (or catch a moment of rest), on Thursday during the day, Emelia’s high school rugby team was in the quarter finals for the season. Last year, they didn’t make the playoffs so this was a huge improvement. But, the downside to that was Emelia was up against Medway and one of her Cheer besties, Emma. Medway has traditionally been a solid team, and they anticipated being in very tough to beat them and advance further in the playoffs. And while they were right and didn’t win, we are so proud at how much they improved and grew over last year. Admittedly rugby is the sport we understand the least, but we love seeing Emelia flourish in it.
The only other relevant event in the week was Dad’s internment on Friday which was a bit strange—if I am being honest. We’re doing a celebration of life for Dad later this summer, but this was about committing Dad’s ashes to the place in the mausoleum that Mom & Dad chose for their resting ground. It was on Friday and Danielle, Emelia, Shawn, Matthew & I were there to see this step of his journey. Having been there with him when he passed, along with Danielle, and having been there with Greg too, this part of the process felt like process and not very connected to the spirt of who he was. I know that will come with his celebration of life and that this part was important to he and Mom’s wishes, but what I am really looking forward to is being able to really celebrate who he was and what he meant to us, in the same way we did for Greg.
She said
This was an other jammed packed week for Emelia’s sports and social life! As John mentioned already Emelia’s rugby team wrapped up their season in quarter finals loosing to Medway. Making it to quarter finals was no small feat for her team. It was huge, in London and the region there are a few teams that have dominated for a while so making it to the post season is not easy. For Emelia’s team to make it to the post season the girls were beyond proud. The team really worked so much better as a team and she is already excited for next season as it will be her last in high school.
After rugby Emelia came home got some food, homework done and then we packed her up to get to the diamond. Emelia’s team has had a pretty strong start, they are already clicking and we can see improvements in every practice and game. The first game the girls were against the strongest team in the league and only lost 14-8, they were really proud of how competitive they made the game. Fast forward to the game on Thursday. The girls started strong, they quickly took a lead and held it until a few innings and then one inning it went a bit sideways. The girls then fell behind until the last inning, the girls as the home team they had last at-bat. They had a strong inning, coming from behind and winning the game. It was an exciting game and what Emelia loved even more was one of her besties came to cheer her on! It was a great night.
To add to the excitement of Thursday was the fact that the cheer team placements also were sent out on Thursday. Emelia pretty well suspected she would be on Sov again which makes her happy. But what has made her even happier is seeing so many of her friends from past teams are also on her team. It is going to be a great season. They girls have two very strong coaches so we are really hopeful for a great season.
The shift for us as a family changed for Friday. It was not about sports it was about taking time as a family to have one more process of good-bye for Doug. On Friday, Emelia, John, Matthew, Shawn and I went to the funeral home and moved Doug’s urn to his final resting place. We added some photos to the display in the mausoleum. It was a short and quiet ceremony. This part of the process is more about finding closure for Helen and the boys. It was good for Emelia to be there for this moment—she misses her Poppa so much so anytime she can be part of these moments of closure it will help her heal.
The rest of the weekend for Emelia was full on social life overload. She has made friends outside her friend group, well through some of her friends. Through Bri and Belle Emelia has made a large second group of friends from a different high school. The girls have really clicked, so much that they asked for the girls to come over to the party across town. So Emelia, Bri, Belle, Shai and Alexis all got ready at Bri’s and then were off for a few hours for the party. Once that one was wrapped up the girls were invited to a party being thrown by one of the grade 12 boys from Lucas. The girls were off and running. Emelia got to hang out with her large group of Lucas friends to the wee hours. She had the best time! You would think that was enough but no! Yesterday later afternoon Emelia came down and said I wish I didn’t have to work tonight because my friend Ashlyn is throwing a party and invited me – and mom EVERYONE is going! She went off to work and was able to get off work a bit earlier, I picked her up and dropped her off with all her friends. She had another amazing night, came home with a ton of stories and smiling from ear to ear. That girl is living her best life.
This week will be a busy one for Emelia, she has a few more shifts at work and then on Thursday is the Relay for Life. This is the biggest event for Emelia’s school every year, it is a massive event and fundraiser for cancer research. We are so proud how she has been so involved in this event, worked hard at fundraising for a cause that is very personal to her and our family. She is walking in memory of her Uncle Greg and Aunt Linda and we know they would both be so proud of her!