COL tami 1104

  • October 28, 2013
  • 373
                        
It’s a heartwarming story, for sure. It’s Senior Night at Stow, when parents walk their senior across the football field and are recognized by the school and by the crowd. It’s a rite of passage for seniors in high schools all across the country – a memorable night as much for the parents as it is for the young men and ladies on the verge of leaving the family nest. Last week, Ron Wright and his wife, Pam, got to share senior night with their football-player son, Kyle. Mr. Wright is a football coach at Hudson, which had a big game that night in Mentor. He promised his son his Senior Night would include both parents. He kept his promise, even though it meant missing some of the game in which he was coaching. And the regional media went wild. What a sacrifice, they said. What an awesome thing for a dad to do, they enthused. And in order to mitigate Coach Wright’s time away from his team, he got a private plane ride to Mentor, followed by a police escort. He said he was interviewed by more media outlets in one week than he’d been in all his years as a coach. Frankly, he said, he just didn’t see what the big deal was. Neither do I. A parent made a sacrifice to keep a promise he made to his child. Isn’t that what parents are supposed to do? The dad is this case is a high school football coach. He missed one quarter of his team’s game. This whole escapade merited him a plane ride and a police escort? Seriously? That’s what we’re calling parental sacrifice these days? Don’t get me wrong. I think what Wright did was good. You make a promise to your kid and, as a parent, you do everything in your power to keep it. But in this case, the sacrifice he made to keep a promise was pretty minor. It’s not as though he risked losing his job to do this. It’s not as though he was being flown home from a far-away outpost for a few precious father-son moments. As much as the story s heartwarming, the media’s reaction to it is disturbing and a little sad. You want to talk sacrifice? I’ve seen parents give up careers, social lives and selves to be with a sick child. There are parents out there who drive hundreds of miles to make sure their child gets the best medical care, the best special education services, the best therapy. They give up everything for their child. And they don’t expect anything in return, except maybe a few “good” days between surgeries, a single word from a wordless child, a few tentative steps from a wheelchair, one more shot at remission. Nobody interviews them. Nobody applauds their efforts. When they hand you that little bundle in the hospital, he or she does not come with a multiple-choice list of sacrifices you may or may not be willing to make over the course of the next few decades. You sign on for better, for worse, in sickness and in health. You’re the parent – sacrifice is part of the job description. Missing a few minutes of a football game to walk your healthy, happy son across the football field should not be considered a sacrifice. It is a privilege, one far too many parents will never see. If you have children, you may sacrifice your Saturday morning to sit at the soccer field. You may pass on some nice things for yourself so your daughter can have the prom dress she’s always wanted. You may skip Pilates when your son needs help with his math homework. And you should thank the good Lord you have the opportunity to make those sacrifices. Other parents – the ones whose children will fight to just live and have a normal live – would sacrifice anything for that privilege.


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