I Don't ♥ Cancer

Last night we went to the 2009 MCHS Football awards night. As a Sophmore, Zak received his minor “M” this season. Each of the boys on the team were announced by name in alphabetical order, and we were told what award each was receiving as they walked across the stage’ but the audience was asked to hold their applause to the end to keep things moving. Zak was the second to last to be announced (Woods, a name that almost always guarantees a last or near last place in alphabetical order), and against Coach Beagle’s instructions, the audience surprised Zak and us with a roaring applause! The poor guy after him didn’t stand a chance! The evening then went on with more awards, with the majority of the time being spent on the Varsity team.

At the end of the evening, coach Cooper came to the podium to make a special announcement. He proceeded to talk about the many injuries, trials and tribulations the Sophomore team had to overcome this year “…not only did these boys have to deal with injury, but two with open heart surgery and one with cancer.” After some very kind words about Zak’s character, coach Cooper asked us to come to the stage to accept a gift from the efforts of the boys participating in the head shaving and the lift-a-thon event. Teary eyed and humbled, we made our way to the stage to accept this gracious offering. Traci gave a wonderful and very poised “Thank You” speech and then was surprised yet again when Zak came to the podium after her to thank his teammates, coaches and friends for their support and concluded with “…and I would also like to thank my Mommy for her support, I couldn’t have done this without you.”