I do believe Ethan has been counting down the days for football season since the last day of 2015's football season :-) He has known the exact day of the Michigan-Hawaii game. He has been posting countdowns on his FB page.
Yep, we were all pretty excited for the football season to begin. And yet at the same time, I wasn't.
Last year at this time, I had two whole seasons (read that as two whole YEARS) of spending quality, fun time with my boys at Michigan...and its football games. This year, as I sat in the stands, I got a little bit Sad Sally and thought about the fact that next year, Ethan might be somewhere else off living his life. Actually, I should change that "might" to a "will probably".
And that made me a bit sad.
Going to Michigan football games with my boys is one of the most fun things I do in a year. That's saying a lot, because we do and see a lot of things over 365 days. I'm thankful too that we have it all figured out so that the crowds and the traffic aren't too difficult to deal with. We've found a set of seats where we prefer to sit. I know where the largest and cleanest restrooms are :-) And I love the band. In fact, as John likes to point out, my favorite places to visit, and my favorite things to do, and my favorite movies to watch always involve some kind of compelling music. I know that if marching band didn't demand so much time and effort, Mark would sign up just to make me happy <3
So it was with a lot of happiness and the tiniest bit of wistfulness that we headed back to the Big House yet again.
A bonus this year was that Allison invited us to tailgate with the Women's Rowing Association (not sure if it IS an association, but it works for this post). Michigan Women's Rowing is celebrating its 20th year in business, and had all kinds of activities planned for the weekend. Thankfully, anybody could join the tailgating party as long as we knew someone and paid the money. In our case though, we just knew somebody (Allison) who paid FOR us (thanks again, Allison!). I could hardly believe that I was checking another item off my bucket list: tailgating at a Michigan game.
So, we headed into town where Allison had a friend who had a parking spot. Again, her connections were DOPE! However, once I got to the street (which Mark aptly titled "the student slums"), I wasn't so sure about leaving poor Greenie there.
Then, like any full-blooded football fan, we walked.
I always love seeing people walking to the game. It's kind of touching (in a corny football way) to think of all of us going to the same place for the same reason wearing the same kind of clothes. I suspect with a little makeup we could look like some kind of zombie horde....
As soon as we hit the golf course and saw all the tailgating tents, I felt like I'd stepped into a bit of football heaven. In fact, I made Ethan slow down the pace a bit just so I could take in the moment. It was one of those perfect days with clear skies and dew still on the grass. People were cooking, talking, laughing, playing corn hole, throwing the frisbee, throwing footballs. Oh goodness, be still my heart.
And even better, the tailgate was catered. That's right--nobody had to cook, and I didn't need to eat somebody's grandmother's potato salad. Fresh fruit, salads, hot dogs (although these weren't any regular hot dogs), hamburgers, chips, cookies, and pop. And not diet pop, but full-on Coke.
Realizing that I hadn't had my annual hot dog (in fact, I don't think I've had one in the past three years), I couldn't pass up those babies. They looked too dang good!
When you realize that my hot dog is taking up more than half the plate, you realize how huge it was. And so delicious.
Turns out, we were sitting at the cool kid table. Or perhaps it's more aptly titled "the table where all the cool kids sat because Allison was sitting there". Yep, we sat down, and the friend who had the house where we left Greenie sat down next to us, and more rowing women followed, until they were pulling up chairs to sit at the table. I looked around and saw other people who looked more my age, people who had kids, people who were just OLD, and I felt even cooler, sitting with all those young peeps. However, Ethan and I knew that we were kind of crashing their party, so when we were finished eating, we got up so that they could really just hang together.
And here's where I hit my biggest conundrum of the day. Those cans of pop? In Michigan, they're worth ten cents each. I figured there would be a bag or a box where we could return them and someone (perhaps that aforementioned association) could return them for money. When I saw nothing of the sort, I walked up to one of the catering ladies and asked her where to put them. With hesitation in her voice, she told me that she had been told to just throw them in the trash.
Flashback twenty years: When John and I were so poor in medical school, we couldn't afford tickets to any football games. But....we could afford to dig through trash cans for pop cans, and we did. No joke, we would collect enough cans (roughly 600 in one day) to pay for groceries for the next week...along with a GI Joe figure for Ethan.
The thought of throwing away a can made me sick, and I expressed that to the catering lady. And this is where she and I had a moment together. Turns out, she doesn't have a lot of money and she too sees the value in a pop can. She had actually asked her company if she could put out bags for the cans (and then she could take them home and cash them in). They told her "no".
With that, I told her that I was leaving my cans on the table, and she could do with them what she wanted, because there was no way in high heaven that I was going to throw those babies into the garbage.
*mic drop*
Here's hoping that she made out like a bandit.
As we left the tent, Ethan stopped me by saying, "Hold up, he's selling candy bars." I turned around, and there was a boy, not more than eight years old I would guess, selling candy bars. Ethan walked right over and started talking to him, asking him what he was selling them for. It was such a tender moment, realizing that Ethan was supporting his candy-selling comrade in arms, having known what selling candy bars feels like. Ethan sold a heck of a lot of candy bars for his baseball team as a kid, and this kid was selling them for football. It doesn't get much more tender than that. And we bought his last two bars :-)
Ten more minutes of walking, and we were in the stadium. Not before we saw the marching band march into the stadium however...and I shed my first of many tears that day.
Ethan is right--getting to the stadium early is always worth it. It's fun to see the teams warm-up, and to take in all the pre-game festivities. I was doing great, singing my heart out to the national anthem as the flag was raised until the two jets flew over the field. Cue tears again...and gratitude that I was wearing my sunglasses most of the day. I love our country. I love all that is good about it. And all I have to say to all these athletes who are making a point lately of not saluting the flag? You are missing out on a pretty special moment.
The game was a complete blow out: 63-3. In fact, I think it was one of the first games where I was having more fun just hanging out with the family than actually watching the game. It was a perfect moment: just sitting there with my boys, loving us some football.
We caught up with Allison after the game....or perhaps I should say she caught up with us by tackling Mark :-) Ethan let us leave a few minutes early so that we could try and beat traffic and get going on our fifty million errands.
But we didn't leave before running into yet another brave soul, selling an even better selection of candy. Be still my heart <3
We then raced out to Grand Traverse Pie Company for some good old Michigan food. Ethan and I headed to Briarwood to get his phone screen fixed (hello, walking away from a kiosk and getting $20 knocked off the price....), and we picked up some groceries for Mark. It's good to know now that he won't starve for the next week :-) We ended up leaving pretty late, but no worries since I had my best conversation buddy in the car with me.
Yep, Michigan football has begun. I'm going to wring every last ounce of happiness out of it.
Yep, we were all pretty excited for the football season to begin. And yet at the same time, I wasn't.
Last year at this time, I had two whole seasons (read that as two whole YEARS) of spending quality, fun time with my boys at Michigan...and its football games. This year, as I sat in the stands, I got a little bit Sad Sally and thought about the fact that next year, Ethan might be somewhere else off living his life. Actually, I should change that "might" to a "will probably".
And that made me a bit sad.
Going to Michigan football games with my boys is one of the most fun things I do in a year. That's saying a lot, because we do and see a lot of things over 365 days. I'm thankful too that we have it all figured out so that the crowds and the traffic aren't too difficult to deal with. We've found a set of seats where we prefer to sit. I know where the largest and cleanest restrooms are :-) And I love the band. In fact, as John likes to point out, my favorite places to visit, and my favorite things to do, and my favorite movies to watch always involve some kind of compelling music. I know that if marching band didn't demand so much time and effort, Mark would sign up just to make me happy <3
So it was with a lot of happiness and the tiniest bit of wistfulness that we headed back to the Big House yet again.
A bonus this year was that Allison invited us to tailgate with the Women's Rowing Association (not sure if it IS an association, but it works for this post). Michigan Women's Rowing is celebrating its 20th year in business, and had all kinds of activities planned for the weekend. Thankfully, anybody could join the tailgating party as long as we knew someone and paid the money. In our case though, we just knew somebody (Allison) who paid FOR us (thanks again, Allison!). I could hardly believe that I was checking another item off my bucket list: tailgating at a Michigan game.
So, we headed into town where Allison had a friend who had a parking spot. Again, her connections were DOPE! However, once I got to the street (which Mark aptly titled "the student slums"), I wasn't so sure about leaving poor Greenie there.
 |
| I seriously had to give Greenie one last hug as we walked away. Ethan left our "parking pass" on the dashboard--the back of a magazine advertising vodka. :-) |
 |
| My face: I'm not sure my car will be here when we return. Ethan's face: Is this really Michigan? Mark's face: Maybe M-Boo's house wasn't so bad... |
I always love seeing people walking to the game. It's kind of touching (in a corny football way) to think of all of us going to the same place for the same reason wearing the same kind of clothes. I suspect with a little makeup we could look like some kind of zombie horde....
As soon as we hit the golf course and saw all the tailgating tents, I felt like I'd stepped into a bit of football heaven. In fact, I made Ethan slow down the pace a bit just so I could take in the moment. It was one of those perfect days with clear skies and dew still on the grass. People were cooking, talking, laughing, playing corn hole, throwing the frisbee, throwing footballs. Oh goodness, be still my heart.
And even better, the tailgate was catered. That's right--nobody had to cook, and I didn't need to eat somebody's grandmother's potato salad. Fresh fruit, salads, hot dogs (although these weren't any regular hot dogs), hamburgers, chips, cookies, and pop. And not diet pop, but full-on Coke.Realizing that I hadn't had my annual hot dog (in fact, I don't think I've had one in the past three years), I couldn't pass up those babies. They looked too dang good!
When you realize that my hot dog is taking up more than half the plate, you realize how huge it was. And so delicious.
Turns out, we were sitting at the cool kid table. Or perhaps it's more aptly titled "the table where all the cool kids sat because Allison was sitting there". Yep, we sat down, and the friend who had the house where we left Greenie sat down next to us, and more rowing women followed, until they were pulling up chairs to sit at the table. I looked around and saw other people who looked more my age, people who had kids, people who were just OLD, and I felt even cooler, sitting with all those young peeps. However, Ethan and I knew that we were kind of crashing their party, so when we were finished eating, we got up so that they could really just hang together.
And here's where I hit my biggest conundrum of the day. Those cans of pop? In Michigan, they're worth ten cents each. I figured there would be a bag or a box where we could return them and someone (perhaps that aforementioned association) could return them for money. When I saw nothing of the sort, I walked up to one of the catering ladies and asked her where to put them. With hesitation in her voice, she told me that she had been told to just throw them in the trash.
Flashback twenty years: When John and I were so poor in medical school, we couldn't afford tickets to any football games. But....we could afford to dig through trash cans for pop cans, and we did. No joke, we would collect enough cans (roughly 600 in one day) to pay for groceries for the next week...along with a GI Joe figure for Ethan.
The thought of throwing away a can made me sick, and I expressed that to the catering lady. And this is where she and I had a moment together. Turns out, she doesn't have a lot of money and she too sees the value in a pop can. She had actually asked her company if she could put out bags for the cans (and then she could take them home and cash them in). They told her "no".
With that, I told her that I was leaving my cans on the table, and she could do with them what she wanted, because there was no way in high heaven that I was going to throw those babies into the garbage.
*mic drop*
Here's hoping that she made out like a bandit.
As we left the tent, Ethan stopped me by saying, "Hold up, he's selling candy bars." I turned around, and there was a boy, not more than eight years old I would guess, selling candy bars. Ethan walked right over and started talking to him, asking him what he was selling them for. It was such a tender moment, realizing that Ethan was supporting his candy-selling comrade in arms, having known what selling candy bars feels like. Ethan sold a heck of a lot of candy bars for his baseball team as a kid, and this kid was selling them for football. It doesn't get much more tender than that. And we bought his last two bars :-)Ten more minutes of walking, and we were in the stadium. Not before we saw the marching band march into the stadium however...and I shed my first of many tears that day.
 |
| I do believe our faces say it all! |
The game was a complete blow out: 63-3. In fact, I think it was one of the first games where I was having more fun just hanging out with the family than actually watching the game. It was a perfect moment: just sitting there with my boys, loving us some football.
 |
| I always get irritated with people who take selfies during the game (when they should be watching the game), but we were up by 45 points. I didn't think we were going to miss much :) |
We caught up with Allison after the game....or perhaps I should say she caught up with us by tackling Mark :-) Ethan let us leave a few minutes early so that we could try and beat traffic and get going on our fifty million errands.
But we didn't leave before running into yet another brave soul, selling an even better selection of candy. Be still my heart <3
We then raced out to Grand Traverse Pie Company for some good old Michigan food. Ethan and I headed to Briarwood to get his phone screen fixed (hello, walking away from a kiosk and getting $20 knocked off the price....), and we picked up some groceries for Mark. It's good to know now that he won't starve for the next week :-) We ended up leaving pretty late, but no worries since I had my best conversation buddy in the car with me.
Yep, Michigan football has begun. I'm going to wring every last ounce of happiness out of it.
I love this post Mama(: It captures all the magic and beauty and wonder that is Michigan Football(: With some Kennedy happiness thrown in there(:
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