It’s the Big Day

It’s the big day. Today is the day we waited all year for. The anxiety building as the day has grown closer. Now we are a mere hours away and my heart is racing. I am breathless. I can’t believe the day is finally here. Excitement and anticipation is pumping through my veins. I cannot help but wonder if M is going through similar thoughts and feelings.

It is here, it is so hard to believe. I spent weeks seeking out the perfect thing to wear. My nails are properly done, and each hair will be in place, makeup flawless. We planned out the menu, and even incorporated Widget’s ideas and suggestions. She is equally excited. We ensured the invitation to friends and family went out in plenty of time, and the RSVP’s are in. Our closest friends and family will gather in just a few hours to share in the joy and excitement of the day with us.

We considered a vacation/destination event for today. After all, my home town is thousands of miles away. And for me the idea of spending the day in the place of my birth added to the specialness of the day. I scoped out locations, costs and prices to take us all back to my home town for the day. I even figured we would then drive to M’s home town for a day or two to visit his friends and family since we grew up a few hours apart, in similar but very different environments. I believe it is fate that has brought us together after many years of near misses. We often were in same locations just a few hours apart, but it took us both moving across the country to finally meet and intertwine our hearts, and now we will share today as a family. We decided against the destination because the cost was just not something we could rationalize. However, a part of my heart today will be in my home town, and a part of me will wish we were there, but the excitement is not dulled by not being there.

At precisely 6:29 p.m. EST the festivities will begin. We will gather with friends and family around the television and kick off will start it all off. That’s right SUPER BOWL SUNDAY IS HERE! It is the biggest day of the year for our family. We are football fans. It is a Sunday ritual, breakfast and then the day is spent watching football. We each have our teams we are loyal too. For M it is the Bears, for me it is the Colts, and Widget favors the Steelers (It is her only flaw).

We trash talk each other, we make silly bets, we take turns yelling at the television, or jumping up and doing a touch down dance after a great play. I often find myself screaming GO! GO! GO! When one of my players takes off and is running down the field.  Today, we will cheer on our team, critique the commercials, and half time show. Today it is all about the game.

If you have not guessed I am from Indiana, and I am loyal to my team despite the bad year. I have other teams I like and one of those happens to be the New York Giants. It’s a Manning thing. Like any good Colt’s fan I cringe whenever a picture of Lucas Oil Stadium flashes and a photo of Tom Brady is hanging there. After all the Colts and Patriots have a long standing dislike of each other. Despite Peyton being out all season and the Colts having a less than stellar season we will still have a Manning on the field today. And Eli just keeps getting better and better.

Today I will be screaming and cheering one Eli and the Giants. Yes, I am a Manning fan, the entire family are just amazing. I do understand the Patriots are playing not just a game but as a way to honor the owners wife who passed away, and that is admirable, and they have had a good season, but I simply cannot and will not cheer on the Patriots. I just cannot do it, not to mention they are playing the Giants, and for me the Giants are only second to the Colts.

 This season has been full of surprises, disappointments, joys, and amazing plays. They say it was the year of the quarterback and I have to say I agree. This year brought us Tbow, Aaron Rogers, Peyton missing an entire season, Breez had a great season as did Brady (UGH), and Eli showed he is as good as his big brother.

As big as today is for our family, I cannot help but wonder about what will happen when it is all over. When the game is done, the celebration over and life returns to normal. I admit I will go into a sense of mourning. The football season will be officially over not to return for months. I miss football in the offseason. I have to figure out a way to fill my Sunday’s without the game of football. Oh we will have the draft in a few weeks, the controversy around will Peyton be a Colt next season or won’t hear, but we will have no game to watch. I will count the weeks to pre-season and it will all start again.

However you and your family spend today, enjoy it and have fun, it is what the game is about. For millions of people around the world Super Bowl Sunday is a ritual, it is the spirit of the game, it’s the excitement and where we are ordinary citizens pin our hopes and dreams on men who will spend 4 quarters playing to win and to bring home a win for their team and for us, the Fans