Rocky Mountain High School Dedicates Bench [PICTURES]

The faces of fellow football players and friends of my Ashley and Colton told a story without words; A story of loss and longing and love. A small group of us gathered as the bench was brought out and placed by the athletic doors of RMHS.

It was a very emotional afternoon as non of us had actually been back to Rocky since the first football game of the season and surely non of us had gone inside the school. We the football coach, some staff and some students in the front foyer (we wanted a small intimate gathering). I lost it. We then made our way to the athletic side of the school over by the weight room where Colton had spent many hours working on his muscles "Mom, feel my bicep, just feel it"!

We all gathered outside just in time to see the bench being put into place.

They let us bolt it down...

My Natasha couldn't do it, but I gave it a try...

I can't thank the school, Principal Lopez, Coach Brook, Wayne Moddelmog (Athletic Director), Lisa Kennedy (RMHS Football Boosters President), Ed Kennedy (Colton's mentor) and all others that made this happen. Our children were true Lobos and now they will continue to touch lives through the years, the echos of their lives, in and out of Rocky will be heard and felt past today and into tomorrow.

If you ever wonder who that woman is sitting on the bench, its probably me. Colton used to sit with his legs up on another bench and mess with his phone until I picked him up and usually Ashley was with me and she would yell out the window... "Coooolllllltooooon" :) I will always remember the days when one or both of them were waiting for me and seeing them by the athletic doors. These times when you are in the middle of them can irritate you, frustrate you and inconvenience you (more than once did I just start dinner when I got the call to go pick them up) (Ashley played softball for a while) but in the end it is these times that you best recall and hold onto. Same with many thing's that we do in life, when they're gone you'd pay anything for that kind of frustration.

OH and as we were walking away... a student found the bench, set his backpack down and had a seat then starting messing with his phone...