Hockey Surprise… Day 904 07MAY11

Joshua received a wonderful surprise today from a great group of people. Several weeks ago Renee and I met a couple, Sal and Olivia, who's daughter, Whitney, and her husband are involved with youth hockey. Their son plays on a local team at the ice rink not far from where we live. Sal and Olivia thought that maybe Whitney would have some old hockey gear that Joshua could use so they put her and Renee in touch with each other. Before we knew Whitney had gotten the whole team involved and they rallied together to get hockey gear for Joshua and welcome him into their hockey family. So today right after lunch we headed up to the rink to meet the team and watch them play, Joshua had no idea that anything else was going on, he just wanted to meet them and watch the game. When we arrived the team greeted him and Whitney took him over to an area in front of the ice where they had assembled a huge pile of gear. The team and their parents had donated and entire set of goalie equipment for Joshua to have. They even had a custom jersey made for him and he is now an honorary member of the Bulls hockey team. Needless to say we were floored and Joshua was amazed. What a wonderful and generous group of kids and adults. The manager of the rink even gave Joshua free skating lessons once his ankle and foot are healed and ready for it.

The team!

Whitney and Joshua

His own Jersey!

Joshua loved the helmet

Two fellow goal tenders who donated some of their gear

Joshua on the bench

Afterwards they invited Joshua back into the locker room while they got suited up and then he sat on their bench during the game. Before long he was opening and closing the door onto the ice and giving the players high fives as they came off the ice. He had a really fantastic time and loved every minute of it. For us to watch Joshua run around with the other kids and be made a welcome part of their team was incredible. They played a great game and won a decisive victory which made Joshua even prouder to be a part of it all. Words of thanks just can't convey how grateful we are to all of the families and especially to Whitney for all of her hard work on Joshua's behalf. Thank you all!

When we got home Joshua immediately began figuring out how to put on all his gear and before you knew it he was standing in front of the door while I threw a few shots at him. We had to talk him out of wearing his helmet to bed :)

An amazing day for all of us to say the least.