Friday Night Lights......

Packed up the stadium seat... Grabbed the spirit jacket because the weather was cool (perfect for football)...

And went to watch the Raiders..

I was trying to think as I was sitting there why I enjoyed this so much. I should be very tired on Friday nights after a full week of school. I really should be tired of looking at these faces that I have seen all week and be ready for a quiet evening at home with the hubby and some TV and conversation...but I leave every Friday to go watch the Raiders. I miss it. After three boys and more years in the stands than I can even count, I miss it. I miss it because those were some of the best times of our lives. It was not so much even about the game ( which of course was the point of the outing), but about the friends. We gathered. We visited and cheered, and enjoyed each other. I did not see every play. Sometimes there was a great conversation going on between the women and yes, we missed that big twenty yard run...but we would not tell our boys that. It was a social event and some of my best friends now are the friends we made through sports and our kids. I would not trade those times for anything.

Now the outings are different. It is not my kids on the field. It is my students. And the people I sit with are not their parents, they are my coworkers. It is fun just the same. These are my new Friday night friends. We look forward to this. It is our end of the week gathering. The sad thing is, if we were not there no one would be. Parents don't support these kids like we did ours. There is not even one parent there for each player on the field. It breaks my heart. How can you not care? I guess the kids are okay with this...it is all they have ever known. So I go, and the other teachers go because then on Monday if Lamar says, "Hey, did you see that great catch I made?", I can say yes....though I was probably talking and didn't!