"Don't Look, Mom!"

We were resting in our hotel room last Sunday night before dinner, taking a break from our whirlwind tour of New England.  Brett was enjoying a book, Cam and Meg were in the middle of a hot game of Go Fish, and Doug and Cal were watching the men's NCAA elite eight basketball game between Duke and Louisville.  I started out watching the game, but became lost in my blog writing when I heard Cal say, "Don't look, Mom!"   I was smart enough to heed his warning and kept my eyes on my iPad.  He quickly filled me in on the details of Kevin Ware's block that had gone wrong and ended with the player flat on his back, screaming in pain, with a portion of his shin bone sticking out of his leg.  After a long delay in action with a lot of crying from fans, players and coaches, paramedics were able to move Ware onto a stretcher and into an ambulance.  The sports announcers made a casual comment about his girlfriend riding with him to the hospital.  It was then that it dawned on me that his mother was not at the game.  If all of us were in shock watching him, what was she feeling?

I thought about Kevin Ware a lot this week.  He has been interviewed several times since Sunday and is even with the team in Atlanta for the final four, crutches, cast and all.  Yesterday I picked up the mail and there was his picture on the cover of Sports Illustrated surrounded by his teammates, with the quote, "Calm down, Mom.  I'm O.K."  I had to laugh when I read that.

Young men have a special bond with their mothers.  It is the first person they run to as a small child when they are hurt, and it is the last person they want to hurt when they grow up.  These young men act so tough and push us away, but deep down they do really care what we think and how we feel.  Most young men do not express their feelings very well.  I don't know if it is a societal issue or genetics or maybe both.  I have learned to read their language, however, and I know that whether they say, "Calm down, Mom.  I'm O.K." or "Don't look, Mom!" they are really saying, "I love you, Mom!"