Tough Times Make Tough People

Intestinal fortitude is what my father calls it.

 

It is what separates the "men from the boys." 

Having a "little bitta guts." 

The "it" my father is referring to is the ability to tough it out no matter the situation.  And growing up "it" was the standard by which all persons were measured. 

This past weekend I saw "it" in my kid. 

As nearly ten inches of snow fell on our South Central Pennsylvania community, the Northern York Polar Bear Smurf football team came together on a snow covered gridiron to play for the title of Smurf Superbowl Champion.

The cold was intense, the snow, relentless.  The wind whipped across the field creating near zero visibility conditions.  And yet the boys played on.

The scene resembled a battlefield, brave warriors struck down by the harsh conditions.  There were tears and sobbing as one by one the boys succumbed to frozen feet and frostbitten fingers.  Some wailed on the sidelines and begged not to be sent back into the game. 

But not my kid. 

My kid played every down and when it was over, he played game #2. 

All told, Monster Monkey and company played four games during the historic snowy weekend.  He never cried, he never complained, he never quit. 

The Smurf Polar Bears did not win the Superbowl, they didn't even come in second, but they are champs in my book just for playing.    

There are many times in my life when it was my father's voice in my head that kept me moving forward in an effort to prove myself tough.
"Come on kid, are you a Coffman, or what?" 

In choosing a mate this was also on my short list of imperatives and I found all that and more in the Monkey Maker.  A person who quietly rises to every occasion, making seemingly impossible undertakings look effortless.  A person whose character was forged in trials by fire. 

As a result my Monster Monkey and his siblings are genetically predisposed to this tough as nails attitude from both sides of the family and that is something that makes this Reluctant Momma pretty proud.