Day 293 -- A New Nickname

I've had a number of true nicknames over the course of my life (by nicknames, I am referring to only those that actually stuck and that I would answer to):


"Al" -- the most commonly used throughout my childhood/adolescent/college years. It's on my class ring and I still turn around when someone yells it in my general direction. Teachers who were at Western when I was a student there still call me Al, my college soccer friends still refer to me as Al, etc.

"Gooser" -- as in, silly goose, as given to me by my mom

"Alley Cat" -- a derivative from Al, given to me by my dad

"Babe"/"Hotlaina" -- from my husband, naturally

But as of last year, I got a new nickname, that I wasn't too thrilled about at first, but that I'm warming up to and that I am genuinely thankful for today:

"Sharpie" -- as in Coach Sharp, given to me by the Western High School Cross-Country Teams

It started last year and really caught on this season. The thought of being a brand of permanent marker wasn't too exciting, but when the girls on the team started using it as a term of endearment, I thought I was pretty lucky.

Today, a senior on the girls team wrote an essay in her English 12 class about a Personal Relationship that made a difference in her life. It was titled, "Sharpie". It described how ways in which I had made a positive impact on her over the course of our three seasons together.

It was amazing. Reading that essay provided enough of a lift to get me through whatever crazy days may be in store this week. I felt so blessed that a senior in high school was willing to encourage me like that.

I am so glad that to those girls, I am "Sharpie" -- their coach who loves them dearly and feels blessed to be a part of their lives.

Thank God for a new nickname!

Lord, thank you for the role I get to play as a coach. Thank you for the wonderful young men and women whose lives I get to be a part of almost every day. Thank you for this senior, who gave me more of a blessing than she knows be writing that essay. I am so grateful for this part of my life. In your name I pray, Amen.

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