Football Life - Hook 'Em Horns!

Before I met Fonzy I was a casual football watcher. I'd watch a game here or there mainly the Buffalo Bills because I'm from that area. Then into my life came Fonzy! Born and bred in Texas football is in his DNA!

When Ezekiel was just 3 years old Fonzy took him to a Carolina Panthers game and he's been their biggest fan every since! Both boys played flag football when they were little and Elijah continues to play high school football today. Football season has become one my happiest times of year. I'm sure it has something to do with it being Fall, but I love Friday night football. Being in the stands with Fonzy on perfect Fall days, pouring rain or freezing temps while we watch Elijah play is something I look froward to all week.

Saturdays are spent cheering on the Texas Longhorns and watching all the college football games. I'm sure I drive Fonzy crazy with all the questions I ask  even though I've watched for years now. We've binged QB1, watch Hard Knocks, Last Chance U and any other series related to football. Football has been woven into the very fabric of our lives. And speaking of fabric...isn't this fabric the cutest! Since Fonzy is the biggest Texas Longhorn fan, I'm now a huge fan too! I'm not sure where I'll get to wear a Texas Longhorns dress, but that's besides the point! I couldn't resist making the dress.

Hook 'Em Horns!

Dress - made by me!
Pattern - Popover dress by Gerties Sews Jiffy Dresses

We'll Beat You One Day

Every since the boys were little, they've played basketball with Fonzy. Fonzy would tower over them, and play them as if he was playing someone his own size, not someone only up to his stomach. The boys would try their hardest, but they always lost. They would be mad, and at times would have tears in their eyes, but swore one day when they were taller than him, they would beat him.

Fast forward to now.

The boys are taller than Fonzy now and sometimes it's a still a struggle for them. There's much smack talking, lots of pushing around, fouls being yelled out, and yes even tears sometimes. But as they once swore as little boys in the driveway, "we'll beat you one day!" They do beat him. But most of the time, he still beats them. No matter how much taller they are!

It's Our Anniversary

I love this picture of us. We took it while in Atlanta for my Aunt's funeral. Its nothing special, just a shot taken outside our hotel, but I love the way we are in this picture. We just FIT. I can't really explain it, but I love it.

For our anniversary today we decided to head out to dinner. That's one of the perks of having older kids and just one still at home. We can go on impromptu dates and not have to worry about the kids. A peak at whats to come when the baby leaves in about 3 years for college.

I'm not a drinker, but decided to get a drink. I like fruity drinks and this fit the bill. I can't remember the name of it, but it was good. I got a vampire taco, in the picture above. The first couple of bites were good, but then it got real spicy and I couldn't finish the second one. Our appetizer was extra yummy though and I wished we had more. Crab cakes with fresh mango & papaya, passion fruit beurre blanc, tomato oil. I thought I had a picture of it, but I guess not. I kind of slacked on the picture taking, but enjoyed the night out. 

9/52 - Self Portraits in Black and White - Anniversary Edition!

Most nights as I get ready for bed, I look for one of Fonzy's old white t-shirts. Even though I have plenty of pajamas, there's nothing better than sleeping in one of his t-shirts. If I have nightmares, I nudge him awake, he will pull me close to him and my nightmares go away.

Today we have been married for 14 years. Come July, we will have been together for 19 years. It hasn't always been rainbows and sunshine. We've fought, broken up, made up, laughed and cried. Some days we can't get enough of each other, some days we can't stand each other. But that's how love is sometimes.

I love this life we've built together. We have 2 boys who have grown up to be pretty good kids. One has already spread his wings and left the nest(college), the other is close behind, I'm looking forward to what our new life will be. Just the two of us. We've talked of traveling and new adventures. No matter what, we've got each other.

So Fonzy, here's to what was probably just a booty call in the beginning to almost 19 years of happily ever after!

I love you always and forever! And your white shirts.

Father and Sons

Father and Sons.

An evening a couple weeks ago Fonzy and the boys decided to play football in the middle of the cul de sac. Of course I couldn't let this opportunity pass without taking some pictures.

Fonzy and the boys make everything a competition. Fonzy is hanging on to his glory days and the boys are trying to finally beat him. He gives them no slack, and never have since they were little. They will compete with anything! They've even had rap battles. I still have the raps saved in notebooks.

This day, there was lots of laughter, yelling, and smack talking....and I hope memory making.

That's what I hope most of all. That after all the competition, and smack talking they remember the fun they had. They will look back on these pictures when their childhoods are just memories, and say, "Dad, you remember that time we beat you in football?" And of course Fonzy will say "No! You remember that time I beat you both at football!" and I believe right then and there, a new challenge will be issued and they will be back at it. All a little older, probably a little slower, but football in hand, ready to do it all again!

Holly Grove Championship Game

Basketball season is a big deal here in our house. I'm sure it's Fonzy's favorite time of year. It's when he is in his element. I love watching him coach. He's so passionate about it. Fonzy has had a great season with his Holly Grove Bulldogs. The regular season they went undefeated, 12-0.

We've been so excited for this game. The boys played their hearts out, but the other team played harder. We ended up losing the game, 41-35. I was heartbroken for Fonzy and his boys. I thought he was going to be heartbroken too, but he said they played their hardest, and that's all he could ask for, and he was proud of his team. And he's already thinking of next season!

This Man Here

This man here - knocked out due to drugs, but probably dreaming of basketball!

Fonzy had two wisdom teeth pulled today. Before leaving for the dentist he told the boys just in case he didn't make it out of the anesthesia that he loved them, and it has been great being their Dad. He told me basically the same thing. I hushed him and told him not to be saying anything about not coming out of the anesthesia. I always pray that God takes me before him. I don't want to be in this world without him. I pray he doesn't take either one of us, until we are well into our 90s!

While in the waiting room, I tried to knit, but couldn't. I prayed instead. Prayed that God would keep him safe, that the surgery would go well and he would be out and back to his normal self. I know it's just a simple, routine procedure, but there have been people who have gone in for routine stuff and never awake. I was so happy when I was called back to him. The assistant came out and said, "your husband told me to go get his baby momma" He was laughing and shaking his head. I told him I could only imagine what he had said under the influence of the drugs. He asked me if he was always this funny and I told him yes!

The first thing Fonzy asked me when I got into the room was to drop him off at basketball practice! Always the coach. I know he hated to miss this one day of practice, with the championship game coming up, but I told him there will be no basketball today. His assistant coaches would handle it.

He has had an awesome season, undefeated for the regular season 12-0, with just the championship game left to be the conference champs. Before he became the head coach I believe the most games the school won in a season was 4.

During basketball season, Fonzy eats, sleeps and thinks basketball. It's always on his mind. He watches the games on dvd as soon as he get's home from them. He yells at the screen like he's coaching the game all over again. He loves coaching, loves the boys he coaches and it shows. Coaching is truly his calling.

After his games Fonzy always calls his Dad to tell him how the game went. I love this. They can get on the phone and talk for hours. They have such a close relationship, I hope the boys will have the same relationship with him when they get older.

The championship game is next week Tuesday. I'm sure Fonzy won't sleep the night before. He's already so high on adrenaline, and it's days away.

I believe they will win it all!

I will be there cheering him on with "My Heart Belongs to the Basketball Coach" shirt and taking pictures to document this special time in his life. We all can't wait!

Father and Son

Capturing little moments like these are my favorite.

Fonzy was heading upstairs to cut his and Ezekiel's hair, but stopped to look at his phone. While standing there in the kitchen, Ezekiel started to comb his hair. He joked saying "Daddy, your hair is thinning on top. You're going to start looking like Lebron" and so on. Around and around he went, combing Fonzy's hair. I look at these pictures and can't believe how tall Ezekiel has gotten. They both argue who's taller, I think Ezekiel may have finally got him. They have such a close relationship. Ezekiel often says his Dad is his best friend. I pray it will always be that way.

This little slice of life - this moment - touched my heart so. A Father/Son moment they probably have forgotten about - probably didn't think much of when it was happening, but a moment I'm sure they will cherish one day.

I already cherish it today.

Shoulder Lean

One day soon he will no longer lean on his shoulder. He will have outgrown it. One day it will be the last time and we probably won't even notice it. So capturing the moment now, just in case this was the last time.

Coach

He is in his element when coaching. Of all the things he could have been in this life, I truly believe he was meant to be a coach.

A Man Amongst Men

35 years ago, Alan Wynard Veale stood before the world and claimed me to be his son. He has never wavered from this claim since he made that decision three and a half decades ago. His unconditional love and teachings have given me the stability that so many adults are missing in our current society- a sense of belonging. Many do not know that he is not my biological father. In fact, many have told me that I favor him and I proudly accepted knowing that this is biologically impossible. But as I have grown older, I have learned that love triumphs all- even biological make up. I remember smiling ear to ear when a stranger said my stepson and I “looked so much alike.” I recall the look Manuel gave me knowing what I knew at least twenty years before- biologically that was impossible.

 

Today, I often get wonderful compliments of how well I teach and coach kids. Gracefully I accept knowing that I have had the unfair advantage of seeing the perfect example of how a real man should treat kids. I have never received formal training of how to interact with kids (I have a business degree). But I am often reminded of the man who taught me a large percentage of all that I know when I utter the word “buddy” or when I speak in his dialect (something only one of his sons or one his many former players would recognize). My father has coached hundreds of kids on the Southside of Odessa, TX. Unlike many current recreational coaches, he coached even when he did not have a son on the team. I specifically recall the summer when he told me, then 18, that we were going to the Boys Club to recruit more black kids to play baseball. Not playing baseball is a foreign concept to my father and I. Baseball is definitely our pastime.



Nothing brought me more joy as a boy than staying up to the early morning hours watching TV and talking sports with my dad. He told me unbelievable stories of his upbringing and how his grandfather weaved baseball into our blood. And how he and his three brothers all played on the same little league team. And how Willie “the Say Hey Kid” Mayes was his favorite player. And how he amazingly received a shot to play professional baseball from behind prison walls. This was a feat that not only required superhero-like athletic ability, but politician intellect to maneuver the prison system and media to meet his needs while incarcerated in a federal prison as a very young man. There is eyewitness testimony that my dad crushed 400 ft dingers while locked away in La Tuna and Lewisburg Correctional Institutions. When most give up and lose hope, my father was still trying to live out his dream. His confidence, courage, perseverance, and intellect are characteristics that I have tried to incorporate into my personality.



This post would be canting if I failed to mention one of my father’s most notable characteristics. He has a giving spirit like no other. This makes him a marvelous grandfather and my mother’s worst nightmare when my siblings and I were growing up. As my sister always says, “When Dad has $20, we all have $20.” This spirit also allowed him to play with us like he was our peer at times. I remember one time he took my sister and I to Water Wonderland (a water park in Odessa) early one morning just after the park opened. It was cold as most desert mornings are and it seemed as though we were the parks only visitors. I remember being scared to slide down the park’s main attraction. My father rolled up his jeans and slid down the monsterous slide with me. Another time, we were locked out of the house on a scorching spring afternoon. We were attempting to break-in through a small bathroom window on the back porch near our kiddy pool. After several failed attempts, my dad grabbed me and forced me into the pool much to my delight. Most would have found the water unfavorable considering it had been sitting for at least a couple of days and had countless dead insects floating in it. My sister rushed to my rescue with the water hose only to receive the same verdict that I received. My dad laughed like a child that day as we attempted to seek revenge. That is most definitely a top ten event in my life (the lives of ghetto children- lol).



On this day, I want to honor the man that saved me from a life of uncertainty. Without his love and guidance, statically I would have been a lost cause. Without his passion for sports, I and the thousands of kids that we have coached would have been without the influence of a positive male role model. Without his quiet readings, I would never have respected the bookworms of the world and would have probably not chosen teaching as my profession. Without his giving spirit, my entire family (cousins included) would have gone without Christmas and birthday gifts on many occasions. Without his addiction to horse racing tracks and gambling, I would have never noticed the beauty of a Thoroughbred horse or been willing to take risks. Great risks equals great rewards and you have to play to win are my lessons learned. Without his willingness to protect our family at all cost, my family would have constantly felt unsafe in the lifestyles we were engrossed in. I still feel safe in his presence today. Without his fight, I would not know how to stand in the face of adversity.



When one man failed as a father, God deemed a sonless man worthy of being my daddy. Alan Wynard Veale is a man amongst men. I am honored to call him my father and will proudly carry the Veale name to my death.

Happy Father’s Day Dad!

Your Son,
Fonzy