Proud of "My Kids"

Yesterday was my birthday.  I had a very nice day and had many well wishes from folk all around.  Thanks to all.
I had a great evening watching "my kids",  as I like to call them, swimming at the Washington HS State swim championships. My own children are not in HS yet, but I went to a swim meet on my birthday.  It is always exciting watching all the hard work that they did in the gym pay off.  In nearly every final event, I was rooting for someone who has trained in my gym.  That is a very exciting thing.  I shared the successes with the kids, their parents, their friends, and their relatives.  I have a tendnecy to get close to the kids that train with me.  Not only am I their strength coach, but many times, I'm a father figure, a mentor, or just a sounding board.
I watched with pride each race and celebrated each success and felt the pain of some of the dissapointment.  The good thing was that the success heavily outweighed the dissapointment!
So, for anyone who trains athletes, make sure that you go to see them compete every once in a while.  It's well worth it.