An End of An Era

A new generation of soccer players is emerging. I remember countless days of sitting at the Provo High soccer field (or at other locations throughout Utah County and even into Salt Lake County) watching Matt and Billy play soccer. And, I loved it! Rain or shine, I would try very hard not to miss a game. I truly love soccer, but even more, I loved those boys who were playing soccer. They were my boys. There were good games and bad games and in between games, but my boys were playing, and I wanted to see them play. I may be partial, but I think they were pretty darn good players.

Last Thursday, Dick and I watched Spencer as he played a soccer game. Billy was his head coach. Ryan and Mike Squires were the assistant coaches. Spencer's team did very well, and Spencer played defense for the first half. At the half the score was 0-0 and Spencer asked Billy if he could play forward. Billy said yes. During the last half, Spencer scored two goals, which made his team 2-0 over the other team. And, that is how it ended. Boy, was Spencer happy! We congratulated him and he said that those were the first goals he had scored. He usually plays defense and doesn't have the opportunity to score.
At the end of the game, I took a picture of six happy people: Spencer, his teammates Zach and Brandon, and coaches Billy, Ryan and Mike.

Two days later (Saturday), Dick and I watched Billy play his last soccer game here in Utah Valley, probably for a long, long time. He has been playing with some of these guys since high school and has developed a great love and respect for them. It was a hard-fought game, with both teams playing their hearts out. The final score was 1-1. I couldn't help but think about when Billy was a little guy playing soccer and how much he has improved and grown into such a talented soccer player. You should have seen his fancy footwork. Billy has good ball sense, and when he gets the ball, he knows where it should go and does some great passing. At the end of the game, I took a couple of pictures. The first one is of Billy and Brandon Wilkinson. They were good friends in junior high and high school, playing both basketball and soccer together.

Here are some of the other team players on their team. A couple of them were on the Timpview soccer team. I told them that the Timpview colors (orange) prevailed and not the Provo High kelly green. The young man third from the left in the front is from London, England.

Billy has been a good friend to Rick Soulier, and Rick came to see him play yesterday. They have done quite a bit of "birding" together.

After we came home from the game, there was a lot of packing to do. This has been a very difficult week for Billy, as well as for his parents. There was about 27 years of stuff that had to be gone through, and that was hard. Billy threw ALOT of things away and sent many things to D.I.

But, when he started to pack the car yesterday, I got a lump in my throat AGAIN for the third or fourth time. He was really leaving after 26+ years. He's not going to Washington D.C. just for an intership this time (like he has the past couple of years). He has a real job with the EPA, and that's where he will be living. We will now officially have our children on all four borders of the United States. Billy packed his little Honda to the gills, but surprisingly enough, he got most of it in.

This morning, he left around 5:15 a.m. to travel to Washington D.C. This is an end of an era. We officially have no more children left at home. It's an empty feeling. But, we have memories that will last forever. We're grateful that Billy has been with us as long as he has. Good luck, Bill, and may you be blessed for your goodness. We love you.

And, the soccer will continue. I think we've got Milly's and Zack's soccer games this week. Long live soccer.