(photo credit: Jenny Rosenberg) It’s been a heck of a few weeks. I haven’t had time to blog, write, or do nearly anything because of the overwhelming presence of Crew. First, last weekend, our older daughter’s team rowed at the Southwest Junior Regional Championships near Sacramento. This was the big kahuna, the race(s) that would determine if their lightweight boat would go to Nationals. This is like the playoffs. The ones who win get to move on, and everyone else is done. She really, really wanted to go to Nationals for the final event of her high school rowing career. Her boat has spoken, dreamed, tasted, fought for, worked out for, nothing else all year. You could hear the echoes of that word — “Nationals. Nationals” in every conversation they had. They wanted it SO SO badly. But they had many obstacles and frustrations over the past month, and it wasn’t clear whether their dream was going to come true or not.

Then the big weekend came. My daughter had a big obstacle that turned huge, and worrisome. I fretted for her, I fretted for her boat, and their dreams. I paced and wept and wrung my hands. But finally, they pulled it out. It all came together. In the second-to-last race of the weekend, when everyone else was packing up to go home, they did it. They qualified. You know, I’ve never been much of a sports mom until now. I’ve never reallllly understood those words, the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat. But I felt them down to my bones last weekend as I paced at the shoreline.

My job as volunteer travel coordinator of the team kicked into high gear. The great news is that 28 rowers from Oakland Strokes qualified to go to the US Rowing Youth National Championships in Cincinnati in June. But it meant about 500 extra emails piling into my inbox as I worked out the details for each of those kids and their families.

The kids are seriously training now. Sometimes twice-daily practices. New oars (see blisters, above). Maybe a newer, lighter boat. They’re on their way. Some people might think what she’s doing is crazy, it’s extreme, it’s risky and whatever. But I swear, this sport has given her so much that I will be grateful for the rest of my life. This is a girl with so much energy and passion and potential for drama, that it could have so easily been channeled into things that were not so great for her. Instead she has spent the last two years passionately engaged, focused, committed, responsible. She has made deep, deep friendships. She has been tested a million ways and learned things that will serve her forever.

Some people might look at those hands and say, how can you do that, but I just say thank you.