What a unique and interesting start to the 2021 NFL football season our family has had.
The public's experience of what is going on is so different than what the personal experience of the player and his family is.
Leave it to Twitter and countless news articles to describe how fans feel. I won't even go into detail because 9 out of 10 times is purely negative. If you're in the league, you've probably learned or are learning to never go on Twitter.
But what we feel at home is much different. Imagine you get a bad review from your boss, but the whole world knows about it. Imagine you get fired, but the whole world find out about it before your Mom. That's just the tip of what it's like to face anything in the public eye. And trust me, I know there are many positives of this profession that highly outweigh the negatives. But, I just wanted to say these things to bring you a little perspective as to what we experience.
So, when my husband, Vince, signed an injury settlement with the Dolphins earlier in September, all of the above happened. Mean tweets, texts from family members and friends wanting information and so on. It was a lot for me to take in. Honestly, I just simply stopped responding to people.
My personal initial thoughts when finding out about the settlement was...
"Does this mean we have to move?"
"But I just got my daughter enrolled in school."
"I'm emotionally tired."
"How am I supposed to support my husband?"
"What does this mean for the future?"
But I'll tell you what. This initial reaction lasted but a few hours, a tear or two was shed by me mostly for the unknown of what our future held. But then, relying on my faith, I realized God had a plan for us. And while it's frustrating when it doesn't go exactly as we planned it, we have to trust its for our best.
So I'll be honest, having my husband around these last few weeks has been wonderful.
After 5 weeks of solo parenting, it's been nice to have someone else around. When you don't talk to others other than your dog, your toddler and quite frankly yourself, you realize how nice it is to have someone else to talk to during the day.
Last season, Vince endured a season ending injury and was home quite a bit. And prior to this year's camp, we talked about how hard that was at first. But, we then realized how big of a blessing it was that he was able to spend time with our young daughter (1 1/2 at the time), watch her grow, grow together as a couple and a family, etc. And those same feelings are shared with this short period of time right now, too.
While we would both love to see him playing as we speak, we know his time will come soon. And because of that, we're soaking up the short time we have together before he gets back into the swing of football season.
This wasn't the plan we had for the 2021 season. But it's the reality that we're facing. It's the plan designed specifically for us, by Him.
And that gives me comfort.
