I limped off the field, ready to go home. Mom came to give me a big hug. I winced. After the game, I felt as if every bone in my body had been jarred. There were going to be bruises for sure.

"Oh honey, I don't even know what to say!" Mom said with teary eyes. "The whole time I can't believe that was my daughter!"

Her voice quivered and tight. She was about to cry.

"It's just a stroke of luck, mom," I said. "We were a mess back there and you saw it."

"Oh Darci," she sighed.

Dad came straight up to me then. His mouth was moving...