It was a breezy afternoon. The sun shown brightly and I had taken my umbrella along just in case I was forced to sit in the sun, to shield me from the heat. It was mid-October, yet the unusually hot weather indicated that Fall was taking its time to reach south-central Texas.
I positioned myself on the bottom seat of the ball-field bleachers, next to the other proud mothers, in the shade. I put aside my umbrella and purse and made myself comfortable. I waited patiently on the sidelines for the game to commence. I scribbled notes on my pad, made a few calls, chatted with strangers and waited.
Just as the game was about to begin, my son walked up and stood in front of me. He was adorned in a clean, new uniform. He was just a smidgen of a boy disguised beneath a massive pair of shoulder pads, extremely tight white pants, black cleats, bright purple jersey with the number 15 embossed on the back and a white helmet with a face mask - too big for his head. I knew this because ... it kept sliding forward and he had to keep reaching to push it up so he could see me clearly. Oh yes ... and there was the smile on his face.
He stood real close and I put my hand on his scrawny waist and pulled him to me. We weren't quite eye level, but nearly so.
He said, "Hi Mom," and smiled.
I said, "Hi Hon. I like your new uniform," and then I noticed his large white teeth behind the face mask and wondered to myself if he had brushed them that morning. Then I leaned in as if I would kiss him.
He said, "You can't kiss me now," and giggled. He meant that I couldn't reach his face through the bulky mask.
I said, "Do you want me to?"
He snickered and tried to pull away and said, "Not really."
I knew what he meant, but asked anyway, "Why?"
He leaned in closer to my face and whispered, "Because we're boys and we don't like it when our mama's kiss us."
I said, "Is that right?" feeling a bit sad.
He said, "You do it anyways."
I asked, "Is that alright?" as I reached over and took hold of his hand.
And he just smiled and shook his head.
I watched as he walked away. I wondered if he would look back .. and then he did. I smiled ... and I blew him a kiss.
I thought to myself that this would definitely be one of those moments that my mind would store forever ... never ever forget. This simply special day in the sun.