October 28 – “The Banquet”

We did another of those grandparent chores last night.  You know, those events where we get to sit around and be proud of our grandkids.  This one involved Cailyn and her cheerleader banquet.  At least we thought it was a cheerleader banquet.

The first place we stopped on the way in was actually on the opposite side of the building at Moody Methodist Church.  They were hosting an early voting site, so we decided to kill two birds with one stone.  There was no line at all, and one of the guys there to help even had one of those “I Voted” stickers stuck to his forehead.  My kind of place.  Needless to say it took us less than five minutes and we were done.

Then we took a hike around the building searching for the banquet.  It wasn’t in the fellowship hall where we thought it might be.  Their old library has been turned into some kind of game room, but it wasn’t there either.  Finally we began hearing some noise.  We followed it to their family life center (AKA “gym”), and there it was. 

Instead of what we thought was going to be a cheerleader banquet, we suddenly realized was in reality a banquet for the entire youth football organization.  That meant not only 43 cheerleaders, but no less than five different football teams as well, from flag football for the youngest to a “senior” team for what looked like fifth or sixth graders.  The entire gym was covered with tables.  Four or five more tables pushed up against one wall were covered with trophies and miniature footballs.  The other side of the room held the serving line full of catfish and chicken strips and potato salad and cole slaw as well as tea and lemonade.  It didn’t take long for just about every seat in the place to be filled, and they were setting up more tables.  That’s a lot of kids … and parents … and of course … grandparents. 

The cheerleaders went first, and Cailyn was pleased as punch to receive her trophy.  The boys began receiving theirs to the accolades of their coaches, especially the guy who apparently served as league president.  That guy could talk forever, and he was incredibly encouraging to each of the boys.  We saw a few Seaside guys, Matt and Will Landry.  Also receiving awards were two sons of fire fighters, Mike Varela and Cash Hutson.  Way to go, guys.  As we were leaving a familiar pink shirt caught my eye.  I did a double take to see who it belonged to, and there was Nora Garcia, the administrative assistant in the fire marshall’s office.  She appeared to be doing the grandmotherly thing as well, gathering as many photos as she could.  Nothing quite like being the awesome grandma, is there, Nora? 

Proverbs 17:6 says, “Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.”

Father, thank you for the privilege of seeing my children’s children.  Awesome.  Amen.