The True Meaning of Coach's Widow  Let me first explain the reason and meaning behind why I am writing this blog. I am what people call a "Coach's Widow." Please don't confuse this with a real widow!!!! I do not want that to be a confusion. I stumbled upon this term a few years ago when I was sitting around a table with some girlfriends. One happened to be a coach's wife. I began to tell them that my husband was getting ready to graduate from college as a teacher, and that he was really excited to go into coaching. I believed we were going to have the good life. Since I am a speech pathologist (aka speech therapist), and work in the schools, I just knew that my husband working in the schools would be awesome! We would both have holidays, summers off, and be off work by 4 every day during the school year. As I was telling my friends about his soon to be graduation, the coach's wife said, "Oh, you will be a fellow Coach's Widow!" I had never in my life heard this term, and was actually kind of offended by the fact that she would call it that. "A coach's widow?" I questioned. What are you talking about? She laughed and looked at me with sincere pity in her eyes. Little did I know that this is a very common term. "You don't have any idea what being a coach entails do you?" she asked. I had played sports in high school, well when I say sports, I mean cheerleading, and dance team, and didn't ever really think about the hours that the coaches put in. I looked at my friend and replied, "No, not really." I had no idea what was coming. Most people don't even fathom working the kinds of hours that coaches do. Yes, coaches work very hard, but many times an equally difficult job(in my opinion) is being the coach's wife or the "coach's widow." I have now officially been a coach's widow for 2.5 years. I am a mother of 3, work full time, and feel like it is important to share with the world how crazy, fun, hectic, lonely, tiring, exciting, and entertaining life can be when you are in this role. I know when I heard the name Coach's Widow, that it struck me in a harsh way. I have now come to find pride in this name. In my opinion the name represents someone who is strong, dependable, and supportive. I may be called a Coach's Widow, but there is much more to me. Although I am sure I will talk about coaching a lot, really, this blog is what I decided to do to document and share the crazy ride I call everyday life. | |
