In the moment

I took my son to his first NHL game this past weekend. He's a little league hockey player himself and probably spends at least 8 hours a week on the ice. For this reason, and that hockey is a huge part of our daily lives, I seemed to overlook that the NHL game would be a big deal to him.

Our NHL city arena is located downtown. That in itself provides new "experiences" for a rural person.  Parking and chaos and ambience aside, my son was obviously feeling a new level of anticipation. Something VERY exciting was about to happen.

Once inside the arena and faced with thousands of exuberant fans, he realized the dream was reality. We found our seats and he saw the ice surface and the glamour of the building and threw his arms around me. "Mom, this is the best day ever!."

Who knew? No, really, who knew?   I have been very wrapped up in my adult life and extremely concerned for the health of my own mother, so this burst of joy was really good for both of us.

When the game started and the chants began, we lost ourselves in the moment. We got behind our team (as we always do!) and enjoyed the game for what it was.

During intermission I ran into an old buddy, another big time hockey fan.  I was so happy to see him. Really and truly thrilled to see him. It was one of the highlights of the night for me for sure.

Our team did well. They battled hard, kept penalties to a minimum and never gave up. Ah, if we could all live every day like that!

My son got the full experience of the game. We did the wave, bought some popcorn and split an over-priced coke. We hi-fived our seat neighbours when we scored and celebrated raucously.  We even picked up a souvenir at the gift shop. Oh yeah, and our team won 4-2.

All and all, it was a great night. I hope he will remember his first NHL game. And for me, I got to see things from a kid's perspective for a little while and forget all my adult worries. That was good. Even if it was just for a couple hours.