From what I can see from the web stats, the U19 BC Team will also be playing for Gold against Ontario this afternoon.
Ontario is always dominant…but they can be beat!
Team BC proved that a few weeks ago at the National Box tournie in Coquitlam, beating Team Ontario in the round robin portion of the tournie.
For many of these boys, as it was for Chris, these games and this experience this weekend, will be a life long lacrosse highlight and another stepping stone towards playing at the collegiate level and beyond.
The hope of course is for all these experiences to help these young men develop not only as sportsmen, but as people. One day soon, some of them will battle together as Team Canada taking on other nations.
For our family of course, today is significant as the entire BC squad (both U16 and U19 teams) are wearing a CF remembrance on their jerseys.
I KNOW Chris will be watching very closely today.
Good luck to all!!
BONUS:
I took some video at the BOX nationals a few weeks back. This is the most intense bodycheck I have ever filmed. You can do your own analysis, but from my perspective the Team BC player was very smart to not turn into the boards, but instead turn his shoulder and absorb the hit. His helmet and pads protected him as the hit took him hard into the boards. I would like to think that the Ontario player wouldn’t have had to make that hit in the first place, but it is the intensity of the game that gets in players (and fans) blood and that is what keeps them playing! btw, the referee as you will see does not call a penalty and was clearly in a very good position. Anyhoo…a little lacrosse talk for your Labour Day weekend.
First, a thank-you to all of you for the thoughts and prayers and support for my Dad going into surgery today.
The Docs were pleased with how things went and Dad (Jake) will be spending the next 5 days or so in the hospital getting stronger.
He was already joking with the nurses with some bad puns tonight…hmmm…wonder where I get that from…
So what do you do before surgery? Go for a walk of course and get some exercise even if you haven’t eaten in 2 days. Of course you do….if your name is Jake Friesen.
We had a great walk today and I realized that Dad was wearing the trucker hat Ingrid and I had given him from Chris. This was Chris’ favourite hat at the time of his passing and his Grandpa was the logical person to wear it. If you haven’t yet, you can see Chris trying it on Grandpa last New Years and the related blog post.
So here we were having a little stroll and Chris was with us as Dad prepared for his fight with cancer and surgery later that day.
Couldn’t imagine a better Be The Best moment.
And as I put at the end of the little video, anytime is a good time.
In other words, anytime is a GOOD time…ie, even though our family is together here to support Dad through his battle (and Mom with hers), we can still have fun, laugh and get a little exercise.
The other meaning of course is that ANYTIME is a good time to go for a walk, have a chat, build a relationship, play tennis, go skiing, go hiking, play scrabble, have dinner with family, play ping-pong or anything else you can think of.
I loved that Chris joined us today too. Love ya kid.
It was a very interesting conversation as we explored topics about men and the grieving process and how men react differently to loss and honouring a loved one.
We are looking at doing an interview via Skype in the future so stay tuned!
There was one very interesting thing though that I couldn’t wait until that interview to share.
Tom again had some great insights into the male perspective on communication and how that relates to the grieving process.
He told me some amazing stories about sports stars and musicians…but I’ll keep you waiting for those and let him tell you.
I had told him about an example of ‘man communication’ that I relayed on this blog a few months back. Going on a golf weekend with ‘the guys’ is usually about 90% having fun, letting your hair down (ok, you know that hurts seeing as my hairstyle is a Number 1 with a razor…) and DOING STUFF. There is usually some (maybe 10%) sincere and deeper conversation, but not predetermined or predictable.
This was not news to Tom. He stated that it is the ACTIVITY itself, the ‘shoulder to shoulder battle’, that bonds men. That ties into everything from war to sports. It was the next comment Tom made that really hit home. He said that it is the joined activity (fighting an enemy, conquering a mountain, driving an ATV around) that combines some danger and challenge that provides a SAFE ZONE for men to talk to each other. ie, if this guy has my back, I may be able to have a deeper conversation.
I found that very interesting.
You see in the vid attached a little fun with ATV’s courtesy of Drake with Wayne and Brad driving and yours truly filming while trying to hold on.
Thinking about this another way…four hours of golf to have a 2 minute serious conversation.
It’s all making much more sense now. Maybe I will unretire from golf after all.
btw…I know it’s 5 months today that Chris passed away and we continue to thank you for remembering us in your thoughts and prayers.
I always told that kid to use Odour Eaters or Febreeze or something...!
Ingrid and I went for a walk this morning.
I have some video and after the runaway success of ‘Therapy from Birds’ from a few months ago, I may put together the footage at some point!
In any event, this walk was a first with some new shoes. Not totally new mind you…just new to me.
You see they were Chris’ shoes.
I was going to get some new running shoes and it reminded me that for the past year I had been the recepient of a few ‘hand me ups’.
This is what happens when your kids get as big or bigger than you.
Chris always wore his shoes with tucked-in laces…except for lacrosse shoes. So these sneakers still had the laces tied together with his knots but tucked into the shoe so they appeared untied. Ingrid deftly untied the knots and we were off.
With any shoes, they’ll need to adjust to my feet. That’s a bit of discomfort I don’t mind a bit, in fact I love it.
A little piece of heaven in Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island (Aug 2010)
As we head into the last few weeks of August you get that sense of changing seasons.
Whether it’s the CHRISTMAS DISPLAYS AT COSTCO, back-to-school stuff everywhere, or those amazing August evenings that magically cool to just the right outside temperature at about 9pm when the sun sets and gets ready for the next show just a few hours away…you get the feeling that change is in the air!
As I wrote yesterday, I like to take some time to look forward, but also like to reflect on where we’ve been.
On occasion I go through some old blog posts. It’s an amazing way to see the journey and progress that’s been made. The days and weeks have ups and downs, but I think if we see things over time the general flow of the chart is in a slow but progressive move in a positive direction!
Summer should be a time to relax, enjoy and take in the sun with family and friends.
Agreed…even though I’m not that great at it! As many of you have experienced, probably the most relaxing time is when you get away from the house and normal duties and go up to the lake, cabin, spa, etc.
One thing I love about those times in the summer is the extra time to think and to plan!
Yah, yah, I know, broken record, planning and goal setting. Ask poor Ingrid, she’s been hearing this for 24 years.
So…not to disturb the summertime vibe, but I know for myself I like to look ahead a little at the fall and ask what I want to accomplish. I’ve noticed something very interesting happening on Chris’ memorial Facebook site.
It is still a great place people can send messages to Chris and when you put things in writing you are of course sharing them with a broader community and allowing others to help support your goals and dreams as well.
I’ve seen comments about achieving physical fitness goals and pushing forward to new ones. I’ve seen comments about achieving lacrosse goals. I’ve seen comments about setting educational goals both for high school and college.
THIS IS AWESOME.
I can’t think of a better way to honour Chris and his memory then by rocking out a few goals!
Enjoy the summer. Relax (yes, I’m preaching to myself here)….but take a little time to think ahead and put a few things down on that goal list for the fall.
PS Using Chris’ memorial Facebook page won’t be for everyone but I do encourage all of us to share our goals with someone. It helps those around you help you to achieve dreams!
My two sons.
Be The Best. 