Another season over

Ben has been a basketball official for our entire marriage. I've enjoyed watching his journey. 

 I haven't loved all the evenings of single parenting our boys, or being ships passing in the night. But I enjoy watching him grow and mature and excel as an official. I wouldn't be able to the job; I'd never blow my whistle and I'd cry or yell at the people hollering at me. Ben can handle it and I've seen how some of the skills he's learned as an official help make him a fantastic father.

 Just like last year, he was assigned to work the 4A State Tournament in Salina. One night he worked the boys semi-final and the next day he worked the girls final game.
I was going to get a great shot of him tossing the ball at the start of the boys game...but then someone walked right into my photo. Oh well.

 There's a lot of communicating that happens during a basketball game. I go to these games trying to watch Ben, but I always get distracted by the players and fans. But, afterwards he tells me about this interaction with a coach, and that interaction with a player, and talking this and that over with the other officials. And usually, I have missed just about all of it.

 I am proud of how hard he works, how passionate he is, how seriously he takes the job. My heart swelled when he told he was going to work a championship game.

And now the season is over. He worked over 100 games this year. Too many for all of us. The boys and I missed him from November-March and now we're all enjoying getting back into the swing of having him around in the evenings.