#32 (Mac)

My mom, sister and I coach a 10 and under girls' fastpitch softball team. Both of my little sisters, Isabelle and Grace, are on the team as well. We're called the Dragons. Purple jerseys with lime green script on the front, a big white number on the back, and the name of our sponsor just above that make us look like the team we are. As coaches we even make sure to wear a purple shirt of our own on game day.

I am also a youth umpire for the 10 and under age group in our league. Yes, you clever reader, that means that I end up umpiring for the team I coach! Contrary to popular belief this is not a conflict of interests. I'm a professional and fair umpire. That is not to say I do not make mistakes, I am human after all, but I have never and will never call my sister or even one of my players safe when she's out. Because I am an umpire I've actually been unable to coach any of the Dragons's games. I've umpired a great many, yet I've not coached a single one, nor will I. I'm okay with that though.

I love the game, I love my girls, and I love teaching and helping them. This season has been quite an amazing one. It was our second season coaching our Dragons. We had many returning players and even a handful of girls completely new to the game of softball. As individuals all our girls have improved greatly, as a team they've grown immensely, and I am so proud of them all. It has been a pleasure and an honor to coach each and every one of them, and I hope to see them in the future.

One of my players, Emelie, more commonly known as 'Mac' is out for our final play-off games. The reason being to heal. before the spring season started, Mac's appendix actually ruptured. She'd been sick for weeks and eventually lost control of her bowels and began vomiting up blood. She was admitted to the hospital for tests and the transfer ed to another hospital that could better help her. During her week in the hospital, 16 ounces of poison was drained from her body. They could not operate on her immediately because the surgeons would be unable to differentiate between healthy organs and poisoned parts.

On Tuesday, 26 May, Mac had her surgery. Although the hope had been to perform a laprascopic surgery, that did not quite work out. The surgery ended up lasting for 1 hour and 50 minutes and they had to cut into her and her muscles. Because of this the recovery time went from a week to 4 weeks. It also meant for a very painful recovery. On Wednesday, 27 May, my mum, sisters and little brother (our bat boy) went to the hospital to visit Mac. The night before we'd gone to WalMart to buy a few things and we put together a little care-package for her. We included Sunny D, silly putty, colored pencils, a notebook, some snacks, and, of course, get-well cards x5.

When we finally found her room (The hospital is confusing!) we were ushered in by Emelie's mom, Marie. We gave her the bag of goodies, and stood (a little awkwardly in my case) in the tiny room. When I saw Mac, usually so enthusiastic and full of life, pale, barely able to smile, and in obvious pain my heart ached for her. I could tell how exhausted her parents were, even through their smiles of gratitude. Upon sight of that Sunny D we were graced with one of Mac's mega-watt grins, which, I must admit really made my day. Later that same night, Mac's mom emailed us thanking us for stopping by. She mentioned how excited Emelie was that we were coming and that the Sunny D was already gone. I think, for both parties involved, the visit was definitely much needed.

It was so amazing to see how God had answered my prayers for our star pitcher and a delightful little girl. As of now, Mac is at home still recovering. She sleeps a lot and does many crafty projects. She's even committed herself to the possibility of a summer team in mid-June.

Phew!

On a lighter note another one of my players, Emily "Hoppy", is the proud big sister to a beautiful baby girl. Claire was born on 14 May. She weighed 7lbs. 13 oz. and was a long little girl at 20 inches. It was just yesterday that we were able to give Claire and her family the baby gift we'd purchased, as well as, a stack of hand-made cards. I definitely look forward to seeing Claire grow up, and I cannot wait to see her in a few years when she get started playing softball!

On Tuesday, 2 June the Dragons had a very close and well-played game that carried them into the next round of play-offs! Tonight's game has been cancelled due to rain, but we might be able to get it played on Saturday if the rain holds off long enough. I'll keep you updated with how we do in our next game!

God bless.