The Best Day of Marcus's Life

I just survived one of the busiest weeks of my life but I'm not ready to blog about that stuff yet.  Instead, what I want to tell you about was the Saturday evening a couple weeks ago, when I got a text from Marcus.  He was working out at the Y and looked over to see none other than PAUL RABIL!  You are probably wondering who in the heck is Paul Rabil and why is he a big deal.  A year ago I would've asked the same thing, but now I'm a lacrosse mom.  Paul Rabil is a professional lacrosse player and he's also become the face of lacrosse as he travels around the country building support for PLL (Professional Lacrosse League).  Marcus wants to be just like him so you can imagine how it affected him seeing him work out right next to Paul.
Marcus said his hands were shaking as he worked up the never to approach him but he did, and tried to sound casual but he was probably all starry-eyed and half drooling so I'm sure Paul recognized him as a fan right away.  Their conversation went like this:
Marcus: Hey, you're Paul Rabil right?
Paul:  Yeah I am.
Marcus:  That's cool.  I play lacrosse for Skyline, the school just across the street.
Paul:  Really?  So how old are you?
Marcus: I'm fifteen.
Paul:  Your F***ing huge for fifteen!
Marcus:  Thanks.  Would you mind if I got a picture with you?
Paul: Sure.

And then Marcus sent me this text.

I quickly yelled for the boys that we were going to meet Paul Rabil and they grabbed their lacrosse jerseys and sharpies for autographs, and away we went to the Y.  Landon and Ethan walked into the Y just as Paul and his social media manager were walking out.  Luckily, on the drive there I told the boys they couldn't be shy but would have to politely approach a stranger and ask for his autograph and if he asked them any questions they should respond and not be shy or look like idiots.  My pep talk worked.  Ethan asked Paul for his autograph and he signed both his and Landon's jerseys all while Paul's manager filmed the whole thing as they briefly chatted.  (I'm old because I didn't even think to whip out my phone to document the exchange.)  Paul walked away and was immediately approached by other people in the parking lot so word of his sighting was spreading fast in our lacrosse-loving town, thanks to Marcus's quick post on social media.

So my boys' obsession with lacrosse continues to grow, along with their dreams of selling their autographed Paul Rabil jerseys on eBay for hundreds of dollars.  But they won't sell them of course, and I'm not allowed to wash them either.

This text thread just makes me smile