Happy Birthday to "The Wall"...
Evan Becker is 26 years old today. Every parent knows the first thing that comes to mind is a question: Where has the time gone? The next is a series of snapshots that are played whenever that child is remembered. Evan was born twenty months after his brother Ryan.
When I first laid eyes on Evan I did the strangest double take. He looked like an identical twin to his brother. In that second I relived the birth of my first son in a very profound way.
Evan was always very active as a toddler and would play and run and tag behind his brother for hours until he could not move. Perfectly illustrating this habit, there is one picture of Evan, sitting up in the toy box sound asleep, toy in hand, his head just tilted back enough to touch the wall.
At six or seven Evan wanted to try out for soccer. His first team was the community league. Lots of running, lots of fun but not a huge emphasis on winning, which was fine with me. His first game, like most soccer games at that age consisted of every kid on the field heading straight for the ball and trying to kick it. Despite both coaches imploring the players to spread out, one riot of kicking and pushing moved like an ameba around the field. I was standing behind the opposing goal when Evan suddenly broke free, took a couple of dribbles toward the goal and scored. He looked toward me as if to say, " I didn't know this was going to be this easy".
Years later on a select team, he earned the nickname of "The Wall" as a middle defender. This snapshot involved an opposing player who was much smaller than Evan but had the biggest, crass mouth I had ever heard. After a of half of soccer, I was hoping someone would say something to this kid, but it seems that the entire opposing team was encouraged to emulate his behavior and try to disrupt the concentration of Evans team. That continued until Evan seized and opportunity to set a pick on his big mouth opponent. Coming at Evan full speed the poor kid turned in just enough time to see Evans jersey just before he slammed into Evan and literally bounced off Evans chest, landing square on his fanny. That was the move that silenced the opposition. And Evan did not cheer himself but continued his quiet domination of the middle. That year the Gig Harbor Eagles ran the table and went 13-0 to win their division.
Many snapshots later Evan and his brother joined me in Houston. Looking right at home is a tuxedo, this snapshot is fortunately at my fingertips. Something out of GQ. Handsome man, beautiful personality.
Happy Birthday, Evan!
When I first laid eyes on Evan I did the strangest double take. He looked like an identical twin to his brother. In that second I relived the birth of my first son in a very profound way.
Evan was always very active as a toddler and would play and run and tag behind his brother for hours until he could not move. Perfectly illustrating this habit, there is one picture of Evan, sitting up in the toy box sound asleep, toy in hand, his head just tilted back enough to touch the wall.
At six or seven Evan wanted to try out for soccer. His first team was the community league. Lots of running, lots of fun but not a huge emphasis on winning, which was fine with me. His first game, like most soccer games at that age consisted of every kid on the field heading straight for the ball and trying to kick it. Despite both coaches imploring the players to spread out, one riot of kicking and pushing moved like an ameba around the field. I was standing behind the opposing goal when Evan suddenly broke free, took a couple of dribbles toward the goal and scored. He looked toward me as if to say, " I didn't know this was going to be this easy".
Years later on a select team, he earned the nickname of "The Wall" as a middle defender. This snapshot involved an opposing player who was much smaller than Evan but had the biggest, crass mouth I had ever heard. After a of half of soccer, I was hoping someone would say something to this kid, but it seems that the entire opposing team was encouraged to emulate his behavior and try to disrupt the concentration of Evans team. That continued until Evan seized and opportunity to set a pick on his big mouth opponent. Coming at Evan full speed the poor kid turned in just enough time to see Evans jersey just before he slammed into Evan and literally bounced off Evans chest, landing square on his fanny. That was the move that silenced the opposition. And Evan did not cheer himself but continued his quiet domination of the middle. That year the Gig Harbor Eagles ran the table and went 13-0 to win their division.
Many snapshots later Evan and his brother joined me in Houston. Looking right at home is a tuxedo, this snapshot is fortunately at my fingertips. Something out of GQ. Handsome man, beautiful personality.
Happy Birthday, Evan!
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