To say this move hasn’t been hard on the kids would be lying. It’s been (at times) excruciating for them: no friends; nothing familiar; without their dad;…I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Well, little by little, things get better.

There’re moments when they cry.
There’re moments when they’re moody.
There’re moments when their silent.

It’s a time to let them both adjust, without rocking their boats. It’s like they’re each sitting in a boat with oars. As long as they sit there, they float, and it’s up to them to pick up the oars to move forward, and yesterday, Nathan picked up his oars.

A week ago Sunday, I met Kimberly Nicely Anderson, who guided me in the right direction to find a football team for Nathan to practice with, and last week, we went to check it out.

At first, he was apprehensive. Kids weren’t looking at him and smiling. Actually, it seemed like they didn’t like him at all. He’d met them on their game day and was invited by the coach to join them for practice on Monday, which was yesterday, so Nathan went.

To watch him active…to watch him with boys his age…to watch him playing football was so breathable. He’d finally had a bit normalcy, and I couldn’t wait to hear how it’d went.

On the way home, he told me how he liked it and said the kids were really funny! The coach’s trying to get him on the roster but isn’t sure if he can, but he’s “trying.” We’ll find out today.

If he DOES get him on the roster, Nathan’ll get to play in a seven-on-seven game; if he DOESN’T, he’ll get to watch his new friends play. Either way, he’s part of something and is creating a new kind of normal, at least for the summer.

The kids still have a huge decision to make next month. They’re at a fork in the road. We’ll see which direction they move forward on.