Memoir Project #1

The person talking shares a memory about joining football and meeting a close friend. They had always wanted to play football and finally convinced their mom to let them. They didn't know how they would afford the equipment, but their mom took them to a place where they were giving it out for free. They met a kid named Caden and told him their name was Andrew as a joke. Later, they saw Caden again at a meeting and panicked when he called them Andrew. They eventually became friends and have been for almost nine years. The person encourages trying new things because it can lead to life-changing experiences. I've had plenty of memories with sports, but the memory I'm going to be talking about is my experience joining football and how it's helped me meet one of the closest friends that I've ever had. When I was younger, all I ever thought about was playing sports, especially football. I'd always enjoy watching my older cousins play for their high schools and their little leagues, or I'd always enjoy watching football on TV with my family. And after every game, I'd go back and forth in my head about how to convince my mom to let me play. And although I spent days, which would turn into weeks, of thinking about how to ask my mom, I was finally able to build up the courage to ask after what felt like months of trying to decide. As I finished up my speech that I made on how I should play sports, I kind of hesitated and I covered my face due to the embarrassment that I was preparing for when she would respond with the usual answer, no. But as I slowly pulled my hands down from my face after she asked me to multiple times, she responded with yes, which left me in shock because she rarely said yes to things that I wanted. So hearing this kind of left me in awe. But after me and my mom would talk about this for a while, she brought up the question on how we'd pay for it, like the equipment and clothes and all that. And for me, well, me at the time, I was a kid, so I didn't really understand money and how my parents' and our family's financial situation was. So I'd go on to tell her, like, don't worry about that, I'll take care of it, I'll find a way on how to pay. And she kind of gave me a smirk and said, well, you better get started, the season's going to start in a couple months. So as I'm sitting in my room watching Spongebob, not thinking about how I'm going to pay or raise the money, my mom came into my room and said, put on some shoes, we're going to go somewhere. And I asked her, well, for? But she wouldn't tell me. She just said, get in the car and then you'll find out. So as we pull into a parking lot, I realized there's a large group of people, mostly parents with their kids. And I started to wonder what was going on, and all these questions were coming to my head. But I asked my mom if we could go down and see what was going on, and she was like, yeah, that's where we're headed. So we got out and started to make our way towards the crowd. But as I got closer, I started to realize that there were these people sitting at a table and they were handing out football equipment. So seeing this, I obviously ran straight, tried to make my way to the front of the line, but my mom grabbed me as soon as she saw me run. And she grabbed me pretty hard. I could have sworn my arm was red from the way she grabbed me, but it's probably an exaggeration. And once my mom and I finally got to the front of the line, after about an hour, this lady would ask my name, age, and some more information. But I can't quite remember what she was asking because I was too busy looking at all the different helmets and shoulder pads that were there, trying to figure out which one I wanted the most. And when I did find out which one I had wanted the most, I had called my mom over so I could speak into her ear and I told her which ones I wanted so no one else could hear me and they'd pick that just because I said it. So after my mom had finished filling out the forms, I was just waiting there patiently and then this little kid came up to me and he said, Hi, my name's Caden, what's yours? And after he said that, I kind of paused for a second and responded, why? And he gave me this confused look like he's never heard anyone speak before. But he responded with, that's mean, you're supposed to tell me your name. And I wanted to tell him no, I don't want to, but I kind of realized that it's probably not that good of an idea, so I just decided it's probably best if I just tell him my name. But as I was going to tell him my name, I kind of got this funny idea that I should tell him a different name. So I went on to tell him, my name's Andrew, and I almost let out a laugh while saying it, but I kept my composure, which is kind of surprising knowing that I laughed at every little thing I found funny when I was a kid. So we talked for a bit and we ended up going our separate ways, I didn't really think much of it. But as time went on, we had a meeting for the teams that we were placed on so we could get to know the coaches and players and how everything was going to go. So me and my parents would go to that meeting, we walked into the building, and as soon as we got in the room where the meeting was going to take place, I locked eyes with someone, but not just anyone, and I'm pretty sure you can guess who it was. It was Caden. So as I start to make my way to him to say hi, I completely forgot about what I've done, or what I did previously. So I go to say hi, but right before I'm about to say something, he blurts out, Andrew, what's up man? And my heart sank, it kind of felt like my life flashed before my eyes because I hadn't realized until now what I did. But I kind of had quick thinking, but it kind of just made things worse by saying, who's Andrew? And he kind of responded back to me saying, what do I mean, or what are you saying? So I just started to panic more and I just went silent and just decided not to say anything and try not to get myself into more trouble. And he said, and his parents mom ended up saying, I'm sorry, he must be mistaking your child for someone else, but he ends up interrupting her as she was trying to say more, and she says, no, I met him at the place where they were handing out equipment, and he told me his name was Andrew. And then everyone kind of looks confused. And then my mom goes to me and she's like, is that true? Did you tell him that your name was Andrew? And I kind of hesitated a little bit, but I said no. And I'm pretty sure she knew I was lying because she ended up going and apologizing to them for me. But after that whole incident, everything was fine. And I was able to properly introduce myself, but not because I wanted to introduce myself, but because my mom had said, if I don't, then I kind of don't remember what she said. But I know that I didn't really want to, but she kind of made me. So after I finally introduced myself, time would go on, and then me and him kind of became friends because we'd go to practices, and we ended up getting rides together. And then we'd eventually start hanging out outside of football. And well, he's been my friend now for about eight years, going on nine. And I'm glad that I decided to play this sport, and I'm glad that I got to share this story with you. And if you're thinking about trying something new, I'd say that you should give it a shot because you never know. You might have a life-changing experience right ahead of you, and you could take one simple little step to achieve that. Thank you for listening.