It
was cold and raining on an early fall day. Leaves were
twirling in the wind as Ryan started to head home from school. When he arrived home he was greeted by his mother who told him to clean up and get ready for supper. They dined over some home cooked food. It was dad’s favorite dish, baked chicken, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. They laughed and discussed their daily events. Ryan went on and on about his upcoming football game that coming Saturday, which was the first game of the season. His mother and father never missed a game and his father always helped him practice. He reenacted all the plays his dad showed him as he sat at the dinner table. He went on about the different plays that he would be running on the playing field. They laughed in delight and reminisced about previous games.
twirling in the wind as Ryan started to head home from school. When he arrived home he was greeted by his mother who told him to clean up and get ready for supper. They dined over some home cooked food. It was dad’s favorite dish, baked chicken, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. They laughed and discussed their daily events. Ryan went on and on about his upcoming football game that coming Saturday, which was the first game of the season. His mother and father never missed a game and his father always helped him practice. He reenacted all the plays his dad showed him as he sat at the dinner table. He went on about the different plays that he would be running on the playing field. They laughed in delight and reminisced about previous games.
One game in particular
that doesn’t get spoken about often at home was last season’s championship
game. Ryan was the star quarterback, and had the best arm in the entire school
district. His team was undefeated for the entire season but during the final
game, in the second half his team was down by 7 points. All Ryan had to do was
fake a pass and run right down to the end zone and score a touchdown for the
win. The clock was ticking, the crowd cheering, and his family’s eyes glued to
his every movement. Ryan faked a pass to one of the runners which had the
opposing team running in the wrong direction,
and then Ryan ran across the turf, sliding in and out of the way of the other teammates as he inched closer and closer to the touch down line. When he approached the end of the field he leaped into the air grasping the football as tight as he could and landed victoriously scoring the winning touchdown.
and then Ryan ran across the turf, sliding in and out of the way of the other teammates as he inched closer and closer to the touch down line. When he approached the end of the field he leaped into the air grasping the football as tight as he could and landed victoriously scoring the winning touchdown.
The crowd roared with glee, confetti filled the
field, his teammates jumped for joy and Ryan gracefully fell to his knees. He kissed his hand, sent it into the air and said “Dad this one is for you!”
Ryan’s
dad, a United States Marine, who's served two tours and won a purple heart, died one week earlier in Afghanistan. This was his father's third tour and he was expected to be home in time for his son's championship game. Unfortunately while he tried to escort some civilians to
a safe house one of the civilians, actually an insurgent, strapped his
daughter's chest with explosives and upon entering the building the bomb went off. It exploded and killed a total of 38 people, 5 of which
were United States Marines.
Ryan
still holds dreams that one day when he is practicing on the field his father
would be on the other side to catch the ball.
