Battle of the Bell

Tonight was the last game of Kirk's high school football career. It was against Milford for the Battle of the Bell. The bell goes to the winning team each year and this year it went to us! That puts the season at 6-4, winning all home games. I only cried three times.

It rained all day and ruined the tailgate. It stopped and we started the introduction of the seniors and their parents, but it started up again and we had to wait for a lightning delay. They read Kirk's bio from the press box while Brian and I escorted him to center field. That was the first time I cried.

Melissa Lipovich drove down from Dublin to see the game and sat with me. I don't know what I would have done without her. She was so helpful with Jake and helped me keep my emotions glued together. It was SO COLD! We shivered together and watched Kirk begin to have a great game.

He scored the first touchdown of the game and took several really hard hits. Somewhere in the second quarter, he had to come out. I talked to the trainer at the half who said she was going to pace Kirk the rest of the game so that he could finish. With two minutes left on the clock we lost possession of the ball and the defence went in. I realized that might be it, the end. Kirk might not go in again. That was the second time I cried. They did get the ball back and with seconds left on the clock were able to end the game with a victory formation.


The hardest moment came after the bell was rung by each senior and the coaches had said their words of wisdom. As a group, the seniors slid through the mud, becoming "one with the field."

Then they ran together to the end zone, laid on their stomachs and kissed the grass before lining up in a row on the very edge of the field. As a group they took a giant step onto the track, their cleats making a scratching sound against the hard rubber, symbolically saying goodbye to the field and to high school football. They came, they played hard, and they were done. Most of them forever since they won't go on to play college ball. That's when I really lost it. Kirk was flying so high he even hugged me when he came out of the locker room with a smile on his face.

Now I get to wash that uniform...ew. I'll probably lose it again.