If you know our family, the title says it all. We have spent so many hours on ball fields over the years. I used to have a sign in my house that said, It's 6:00 pm, do you know what field your parents are on? When Kami was four years old, she played her first game of soccer. At that time in her life, she would only wear dresses, so I got her to at least wear "skorts". She had a young, cute high school boy as her coach. I don't think she touched the ball much that season because no matter where the coach was, she was right next to him. I'm sure she wanted to marry him. She was a young bloomer. Once she got the hang of the game and got over the coach, she became a very talented athlete. She grew to love the game.
She had to spend a lot of time at baseball diamonds, soccer fields, football fields etc. as her brothers grew up, and she always wanted to be as good as they were at whatever she tried. She always was. She became a defensive player once she settled into the game. The defense is usually not the coveted position in soccer because you don't get to score the goals. Your main focus is keeping the ball out of the opposing team's goal. She played sweeper for much of her high school career which is the last player before the goalie. During her senior year she was the captain on her club team and the goalie quit or got hurt and she stepped in and played because no one else would do it. She did what had to be done.
I went to watch a soccer game last Saturday. It was a beautiful 70 plus degree day. It was a group of 15 year old girls that my son coaches. As I watched the game, I got thinking about how much soccer has been a part of the Harper family. One thing that really impressed me was that every coach that Kami played for in competitive soccer and High School was at her funeral. They each had an influence in her life, some positive, some negative. Depending on how Kami looked at it at the time. Soccer is a team sport. If you played on Kami's soccer team, she had your back. She was the first one to run up and intimidate the opposite team and protect her teammates if someone needed it. She was very competitive and no matter what she was playing, she liked to win. She could trash talk with the best of them. I think that is why she liked playing sweeper because she could sit back there and have "conversations" with the forwards of the opposite team and get in their heads. I was sitting there thinking about Kami during this soccer game last week and thinking how life is so much like a soccer game. Life is a team sport. There were many "teammates" that influenced Kami and helped her try and make her goals. She made some wonderful friends through soccer, awesome, fun girls. She had the support of many of the parents of those girls also. I am grateful to those parents for their support of Kami.
Sometimes in the game of soccer, you get yellow cards for some infraction and if it was bad enough you get a red card and have to sit out a game. I don't think Kami ever had a red card but she had her share of yellow cards. Yellow cards are a warning, you have to leave the game but you can come back in and keep playing. Three yellows are the equivalent of a red card where you have to sit out an entire game. The coach is there for the girls to teach them and keep them under control just like parents are there for their kids to teach them and keep them under control. As a parent there is such a good feeling when your child scores a goal or their team scores a goal. We all love to win. Let's be truthful, Second place is the first loser! It is such a good feeling to watch your child succeed. On the other hand, it is kind of a bummer to see your child get a yellow card. Kami had a lot of "yellow" cards in her life during the teen years, so many "warnings" for choices she was making. She had many coaches trying to get her back in the game but she couldn't see the goal anymore, she was content with sitting on the bench. No matter how many teachers, friends, family members, coaches, etc were there for her, she just didn't see how much potential she had.
During the weeks right after Kami's death, we received such amazing support from the soccer community. We are so grateful for it. The hugs, the meals, the gift cards, the treats, they were all so appreciated and those of you that brought these things to us, will never know how much you helped. Bud is possessed with soccer and I think having soccer to keep him busy was a great coping mechanism for him to get through these past few weeks. He loves the players he coaches and if he can have a positive influence on a player and keep them in the game, he is happy to do that. Bud has received some amazing thank you's from players over the years and I have seen tears in his eyes as he has read them. We hope that each young person can see their potential. Don't ever let life get you that far down. I would hate to see anyone go through this experience.
I feel like we have been on a losing streak the last few weeks but like every team, it will turn around and get better. We have such a good crowd cheering us on. We have a loving heavenly father "coach" that only wants the best for us. For the time being, Kami has been traded to another team. She has been traded to the team of spirits watching over us. She will continue to progress and I think she knows that our team is struggling since she was traded. We are looking forward to seeing her again. We can't wait to play Ligretto with her again. It is a card game that Dan brought back from his mission in Germany. We have played some fierce games over the years. For Bud's birthday last year, Ryan surprised Bud and took him to see a world cup qualifier game of the USA playing Costa Rica at the Rapids field. They had the time of their lives despite the snow. I know it will feel like the world cup when I get to see Kami again. I look forward to it, it doesn't even matter if is snowing!
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