My year of 100 Family Dinners Week 42: Dinner #102

Showing Up Matters - Even When It’s Hard

I knew this week was going to be busy. I just don’t think I fully understood how busy until I was standing in the middle of it.

This was the final week of the regular football season, and Friday brought two big things at once: Halloween and Senior Night. Both important. Both emotional. Both demand your full presence: at the same time.

Senior Night, Big Feelings

Senior Night is a huge deal. It’s a celebration of years of work, commitment, and love for a program. And as a member of the football booster club board, it also comes with a lot of behind-the-scenes preparation.

There were senior baskets to assemble, gifts to label, banners to hang, posters to create, balloons to blow up (one mom even put every senior’s face on balloons lining the stadium.) Every detail mattered. Every family deserved to feel celebrated.

Each senior was called across the field, walking with their parents, pausing for pictures, soaking in a moment that only happens once in a lifetime.

Walking my son walk across that field brought up all the feelings.

I’m proud of what he’s accomplished. Proud of the ways he stayed, adapted, learned, and contributed. Proud of him for finding his place on the team in a way that worked for him and his epilepsy, disability, and all.

Not every coach was on board in the beginning. Not every coach immediately saw his value. But over the last four years, they accepted him. They recognized the importance of his presence, his work ethic, and the way he belonged.

That gratitude is actually how another mom and I ended up starting the booster club: as a way to say thank you to the men who show up for our kids, including mine.

Halloween, Logistics, and Letting Go

At the same time, my daughter wanted to celebrate Halloween with her friends; costumes, trick-or-treating, the magic of it all. And I wanted that for her too.

The logistics were a lot.

I went to the stadium to help with setup. Drove her to her friend’s house. Went back to the stadium. Left to pick her up. Headed back again so she could participate in Senior Night. And then, thank goodness for supportive moms, another mom stepped in, picked up my daughter, and took her trick-or-treating.

I have never been more grateful for help. One thing I’ve learned post-divorce is that I cannot force people to show up the way I want them to. I learned that lesson in marriage, but I’ve had to truly accept it as a single mom.

My kids don’t always want to show up for each other. My daughter doesn’t always want to be at football events. My son doesn’t always want to be involved in her activities.

But I will never stop teaching them that showing up matters.

It might not feel important now but later, it will. Everyone deserves to feel supported during the big moments in their lives. And I want my kids to know what that feels like.

One Dinner, Big Meaning

We only had one family dinner this week and honestly, it felt like an accomplishment.

That dinner was #102.

My son is still asking why we keep having family dinners. And I keep giving him the same answer: Because I love you, and I want to spend time with you.

That truth hasn’t changed. It lives at the center of everything I do.

A Breath of Relief

This week also brought something we needed badly: a bit of calm.

My son still had moments of anxiety, moments where he worried a seizure might happen, but we made it through the week without one. And after the weeks we’ve had, that felt like a small miracle.

By November 1st, I was exhausted. Deeply. I was ready to do nothing, be nowhere, and just breathe for a moment.

The Heart of This Week

This week reminded me that love doesn’t always look gentle or quiet. Sometimes it looks like rushing between places, asking for help, holding a lot at once, and choosing to show up anyway.

One dinner. A packed week. Big milestones. Big emotions.

And still connection happened.

I love my children. I want to spend time with them. And I will keep choosing that; even in the busiest, hardest weeks because that’s the whole point of this journey.

And it still counts.