“When things get tough, you get tough as a family. We didn't want him to get a job. We wanted him to work out to be ready to play football.”

“We were trying some new things, switching people around. We were having too many hitting errors and needed more positive hits. I think it paid off.”

“We're still struggling with our attack. We've got to set and spike better. It will be good to have some practice time.”

“We had great serving. West Frankfort had trouble passing the ball.”

“Everybody got in the match tonight. That was good.”

“I saw him coming around and the coach giving him the signal to go. I just gave that throw everything I had and luckily it got there first.”

“It was weird (to be playing in home uniforms). Coach joked before the game asking us if we wanted to ride around in the bus a little bit so we could get comfortable.”

“It was just amazing feeling to be the first one and to have that big of a hit. It's a good high.”

Well, on some level, it’s similar to the psychological phenomenon of helplessness, where the will to try is lost. You get to the point where you just assume that your spontaneous call to a friend will go to voicemail or an assistant, and you decide not to bother.

Don’t invite envy to your house – you never know who will show up,” she used to warn me.