He was once like you
These last weeks watching Eli with the Spring-Ford basketball team, have opened my eyes, but more importantly my heart, when I didn’t think it was possible.
Eli was once just like you. He was just like the boys that I have grown to love watch play ball but it wasn’t always that easy.
I used to watch Eli run in races, play soccer, basketball and baseball. It was one of my greatest joys watching him, just as I watched Eric and Evan as they grew up doing the things that they loved doing. Unfortunately those moments slowly came to an end and life started to look different as we now had to find other things that his body would allow him to do.
When Eli started on the team, it was hard for me to go to the games. I would go to one here and there, but all I seemed to see was peers of his doing what they loved, boys that reminded me of what Eli could been doing if MLD did not Enter our life. Some boys were older and some were younger but it didn’t matter, because he should have been playing and not just sitting on the sideline rooting for his team. I felt anger at times and I also felt sadness.
MLD is a thief, and it has robbed us of so much, but I believe when I look at the bigger picture, it has given us much more than it has taken away.
As I started to go to more games, I stopped seeing what I didn’t have and started seeing the joy that being a part of this team was bringing to Eli’s life. I watched as some pretty amazing young men made their own handshakes with Eli and made him feel more special then I could have ever imagined. I saw the smile on his face every time they would slap his hand when they walked by and also the joy of walking with the team at the end to say good game to the other team. I got to see coaches that made him feel like he was just as much a part of the team as any other young man there.
When these boys won the PAC, Eli was included in everything. He was in the pictures, he was given fives by his teammates and he even got a piece of the net like everyone else. I cried like a baby watching this, but they weren’t tears of sadness, they were tears of joy. Emotional to say the least, these young men have helped change my view, just by treating Eli, the way I have always dreamed.
I thought MLD would take that and many other opportunities from us, but it didn’t, and it has given way to lessons not only for our family but for those who invite Eli into their life, whatever that might look like. Last night it happen to be at a basketball game. It also just so happen to soften a heart that has been filled with so many “whys?” For way too long.
I FEEL a joy that is palpable… It is an energy that has moved mountains, and will continue to do so. the big mountain being the way that I choose to see what is in front of me.
Thank you to those that have been a part of changing our lives. We are eternally grateful.
Fear Not 
I love the perspective change that you were able to stop seeing what you were missing and start seeing what you were receiving. I think this is something we can all learn from. I’m so happy that Eli is able to participate in these activities still and is so included. What kindness he is being shown by his peers.
[…] mother, Becky, is an avid blogger who posted about the aftermath of the PAC championship. In it, she discussed how it was hard to attend games at first, thinking of how her son should be […]
Manager Eli Vivian a source of inspiration – and vice versa – for PAC champ Spring-Ford boys basketball – PA Prep Live said this on February 22, 2023 at 9:01 am |