College Football, John and the Y Chromosome

USF's Bulls were ranked at #6 for college football at the end of last weekend. They won again yesterday. They're 5 - 0! I really miss John. I don't usually follow college football (professional football has always been interesting to me) but I know he'd know all about the rise of USF. They've only had a football team for 7 years, so their rise is remarkable. It's nice to watch the local news and hear about a team other than the Gators. (They lost, by the way! 3-2..Ha!). I haven't followed USF football and know John could give me a reader's digest analysis on the key players, the coach and the program. Then, I'd feel prepared to watch the rest of the season. Alas, I'll have to learn this on my own.

The Singer is dating a freshman at USF (also the drummer for the youth choir at church) and he's trying to get tickets to next week's game against UCF. The Singer, who has shown less than zero interest in football previously, asked Hubby if he would watch today's pro games with her and teach her something about football, she could use a tutorial by John, as well. Eric, her boyfriend, played high school football and loves it. It's hard not to smile at how cute it all is...remembering that I learned about golf only after meeting Hubby. She actually stayed for 1/2 of her high school's game Friday after singing the national anthem because he came. (They would have stayed later but it started pouring rain...the Singer demanded to leave).

My children bring great humor to my life. There are public service announcement commercials about how different activities add years to your life. One of them states that singing adds 15 years to your life. The Singer and Imp both now feel immortal, as they sing constantly. Another one says laughter adds 7 years. Hubby thinks he has it made as he walks around singing in the house, which causes the girls to laugh, which causes him to laugh! He says he's just trying to keep us all healthy.

The Imp went to a birthday party of a boy in her class last night. The party began at 6pm. Driving the Imp home last night we inquired about the party. She said it was good, but that she was rather insulted by the all the boys' behavior at the beginning of the party. "Here we were, at a party, and what were the guys doing? Sitting on the edge of the chairs, eating chips and pizza, WATCHING FOOTBALL ON TV. [the USF game] The girls were all standing together on the other side of the room and I said, 'This is a party...they should be talking with us.' So the about 5 other girls went with me and we stood in front of the TV so the boys would have to talk to us." Hubby and I were howling. Hubby's saying, "eating, watching football with friends...sounds like a great party to me." The Imp replied, "D....A......D! You have a party to talk with your friends." Hubby, who just finished reading Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus said, "Perfect example of that Mars/Venus thing going on." The Imp then says, "Yea, sometimes I think the world would be better off without a Y chromosome." What a hoot!

Living with Loss

I've had two weeks of thinking about death and dying. The week of the 17th had us attending a rosary prayer service and the funeral of the Imp's friend's (JuJu's) mom. She was only 43. The rosary prayer service was designed by the Salesian Sisters who run the school the Imp and her friend attend. The whole experience was "fitting." The sisters really did a wonderful job of recognizing the grief at losing a loved one, while remembering that our Christian faith gives us hope, even in death. The school is right next to the convent where the sisters live. Inside the convent is a small chapel. The students have always had access to the chapel during their lunch/recess time. A special candle was lit in the chapel for JuJu's mom. JuJu can go in there anytime to find quiet and feel close to God and her mom. The Imp says, the two of them go into the chapel everyday after lunch, on their way to recess. She says they usually stay just a few minutes, but it makes them both feel better. This is why I am so pleased with the school. Academically it is above adequate but below exemplary. But that's okay by me, if the Imp is having her soul nourished. This is real life stuff and the staff at the school is teaching the students how to deal with real life in a Christian way. The whole way JuJu's mom's illness/death has been dealt with speaks of grace and class.

The funeral of JuJu's mom was nice, too. The priest was a little long-winded, just repeating himself, but not everyone can have someone like Father Ashmann give the homily at their funeral. [Fr. Ashmann gave the homily at John's funeral and was extremely eloquent and full of the Spirit.] The really nice thing was seeing 20 of JuJu's classmates there. Most of them sat together in two pews of the church near JuJu. It warmed my heart to see them pulling together for her.

Last Monday was John's birthday. He would have been 42. I still don't always realize he's gone. He was so full of life...always, that it is almost incomprehensible that he isn't still living. I then found out that my nephew, in Iraq, was involved in a "skirmish" and thankfully only suffered a concussion and temporary hearing loss. We all feel like John was on guardian angel duty watching over Byron.

Today is Ellen's birthday. It is hard to grasp that she has been gone over 11 years. It's hard for me to comprehend that the Imp has no memories of her. Ellen loved holding the Imp when she was a baby, and always seemed to enjoy the Singer, too. The Singer has only the vaguest of memories of her. How sad that they never really got to know her. On these days, I am amazed at the ability of my brother, Kevin, and my sister-in-law, Gwyn, to continue on. Ellen exhibited great grace and faith as she lived and died with breast cancer and John exhibited great grace and faith as he lived and died with ALS. But, Kevin and Gwyn have exhibited incredible grace and faith in living each day since their losses.