This piece was edited out for the recent tour, so here it is now!

JILL – THE HIT

Hockey arena sound through out

We don’t get out much. When we all go to watch my son play hockey, that’s “a family outing”. When my daughter has a hissy fit about going and my husband and I attend alone , that’s “a date”.

He plays at a high level, and the games are exciting. As soon as the puck drops, I start screaming.
“Go Red! Skate! Skate!”
On my son’s second shift he charges a boy and gets a penalty. It was a pretty rough hit.
The parents from the other team steal glances at us. I know it was a bad hit, but he’s a smaller player. He’s supposed to “physical”, so he has to pump himself up to hit some of those giants. Then when he’s in that state his judgement gets impaired . It’s tough. “Hit Hard”, but only between here and here. (Gesturing between chest and thigh)
Penalty’s over, he’s back on the ice. “Pass! Pass!”
Just then my son charges again. What is he doing? The boy he is aiming for sees him and turns, so he hits him hard……late……from behind…..and the boy’s head (sound of head hitting wood) hits the boards, He goes down….and he doesn’t get up.
The parents from the other team start screaming. “Kick him out! Get that kid outta here!”
My son is thrown out of the game. But the boy is still face down on the ice. I try to stand but my knees buckle. I feel like I might throw up.
My son is watching from behind the bench. He waiting to see if the boy is going to be okay. I walk to someplace out of sight to wait. Wait. He’s still down. I’ve always worried, what if my son gets hurt. He’s had concussions so bad that we’ve taken him straight from the ice to emergency, but he’s never hurt some one else. Not like this.
Finally the boy begins to rise. Everyone bangs the boards with their sticks to show their support. Including my son.
I find my husband. “What if that boy had been seriously hurt?”
“He wasn’t.”
“I know that , but what if he was?”
“He wasn’t.”
We sit down, watch the rest of the game, and go home.