Thin Ice (Corey Crawford)

Graduation Day

Corey

Even though it is the peak of post season hockey right now, there was a big event in Shawns life that I knew I wanted to be there for. He was to graduate from his high school on high honor roll and close this huge chapter of his life. A lot was about to change. He was off to Michigan here real soon to start training for college hockey, not that he hasn't been being doing that since his club stoped playing. He has been working his ass at the combine for the draft too. This was the start of a lot of big things for him and he was ready to take on the world.

"They grow up so fast" Sam sniffles as we sit on the bleachers of his high school. We sat in the middle of the crowd ready to see the kids walk the stage. He went to private school so luckily the ceremony won't take too long for we had a chance to beat the Wild here at home tonight and move on to the Western Conference finals. But I promised Shawn I would be here for him but it looked like Sam was the one that wasn't going to make it through this.

"Awh babe, why are you crying" I ask as I catch a tear off her cheek.

"I'm just so proud of him. Dad.. dad would have been so proud of him" she cries.

"Oh come here" I say as I wrap my arms around her. The pregnancy hormones haven't been bad until recently. But yesterday she had a check up and we took a look at the baby and she started balling. Her next appointment we were going to find out the gender which was exciting, I can only imagine how much she will cry then. I probably will too.

"He's going to leave me, isn't he" she asks making me laugh.

"He is. But you know as well as I am he can't be tied down. There's too much fun and hockey out there for him to be stuck here. Chicago is home but that boy is going to make a lot of people happy in a city like this" I admit.

"What am I going to do if he turns out like Patrick" she asks.

"We will pray for him... a lot" I scoff.

Eventually the graduation gets underway and there wasn't a lot of excitement. I didn't go to college so high school graduation is the only thing I knew. And I didn't even want to be a part of my own graduation, pretty sure my friends and I got drunk the night before and don't remember much else. But I was excited to see Shawn walk across the stage and into a bright future.

When he finally makes it to the stage Sam and I both jumped up out of our seats and started cheering. We were defiantly the only ones who did such a thing but this is a hockey family. Goalie chants are a right of passage and you only graduate high school once. Kids his age don't understand how much of their future is right on the other side of that stage. He gets it though, he might be scared but he gets it. So might as well send him off the loudest way possible.

Once the ceremony was over we find our little boy and pull him into a hug. I hope we embarrassed him enough because it won't be long before we could do anything and people won't care. But he's still a teenager with much to learn. He should enjoy this while he can though, the rest of his life just started whether he knows it or not. He was a good looking kid and the girls loved him, but he was a loner and he had bigger things on his mind when it came to his future.

"Come on, one more picture" Samantha begs.

"You said that ten pictures ago, I'm hungry" Shawn whines.

"Sorry but you look too cute in your cap and gown and I want lots of pictures to show the baby when it asks about you" Sammy defends.

"Can't I just come see it" Shawn whines.

"Not all the time. If you wanted to come down for frequent visits you should have signed with Wisconsin because I know that route like the back of my hand and can make the trip in a little over 2 hours. But no, you wanted to go to Michigan, 4 hours away" she shuns.

"You know I couldn't have gone to your school" he defends.

"It's not my school" she tries.

"They have a Samantha Miller day now" he reminds her making her smile.

"Yeah they do" she jokes.

"Plus if we set records in two different schools then our families legacy is that much cooler" he reminds her.

"Whatever makes you sleep at night" she laughs.
So we take about thirty more pictures before taking him out to dinner.

Shawn leaves for Canada at the end of this month for a little pre draft meeting with some teams. If I'm lucky I'll still be playing so it'll just be his mom with him in Canada while Sam and I were still working. But we will be there for the draft and to help him to get settled in Michigan. I truly don't see him lasting more than a year there before whichever team that picks him up wants him to at least be the organization whether that be in the minors or in the big times. The goalie position is such a crucial one, not a lot of teams have someone where they can put their trust between the pipes every game. Luckily for me I got a lot of good guys playing in front of me. But there's goalies like Quick and Lunsqvist and Luongo, those are the guys I compare Shawn to. And while it might not be easy, sometimes as a goalie you need a few bad games to find your stride. But I truly believe in Shawn and his abilities making it so it won't be long before he makes a difference in this game.

We end up at Buffalo Wild Wings because that's what Shawn wanted to eat. Sam doesn't argue because she loved wings and all the sports stuff they play while we were there. So we get our table and look over the menus. I feel Sam lean on me and I smile to myself. I wrap my arm around her as she tries to figure out what kind of sauce she wants on her wings.

"Hey Corey" Shawn says and I look across the table.

"Yeah bud, what's up" I wonder.

"I really appreciate you coming to my graduation. Without dad it was kind of hard thinking about walking across the stage and into a future without him in it. But seeing you and Sam out there cheering obnoxiously loud, we'll it was the coolest achievement I've had so far and you made it that way" he claims.

"Anything you need and I'll be there" I promise.