First of all, you have to understand the history behind my son and the Patriots. He was a Patriots fan in grade school, which was way before there was a Coach Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady. He even had a Patriots parka during a time most people had to ask, "Who are the Patriots, anyway?"
Never, however, has he been a "fair weather fan", changing his team allegiance due to any particular set of wins or losses. He was simply a steady and loyal fan. As he grew older, the loyalty didn't fade, but only grew stronger. He is a man of few needs, but one who has just about everything "Patriots" you can find. His sister scored big at Christmas when she found him a Patriots M&M dispenser, (complete with coordinating M&M's in the team colors and stamped with the logo).
Because of the intensity invested in watching any particular Patriots game, we chose to keep our Super Bowl party small. . .just my son, my husband and I. Down the road, about an hour away, we knew there was another loyal Patriots fan watching, as our 9 year old grandson has followed in his uncle's footsteps in the team loyalty department.
A very touching part of the preliminaries was seeing President H. W. Bush and his beautiful wife, Barbara participate in the coin toss at the start of the game.
If you were watching, or have been listening to the media recount the highlights of the game, you will know things didn't start out good for the Patriots. In no time their opponents had three and then four touchdowns under their belts, with only a three point field goal on their side of the scoreboard. Needless to say, my son was getting nervous. In fact, so was I! For a time, in the third quarter, I chose to leave the TV room and hang out elsewhere. Part of me thought, "What if I'm the jinx in this whole thing??" [Like that had anything to do with it. . .but they did score some points before I returned for more of the action! And our son said he changed to a different cap for the second half!!]
All I know is, the momentum changed. Before we knew it, the game was tied and going into overtime for the first time in Super Bowl history. And, as they say, the rest is just that. . .history. Lots of records were set and the Patriots came out of it with lots of smiles on their faces. Perhaps the win was even a bit sweeter because of the deficit they had to overcome to prevail as the winners.
Was I excited they won? Well, yes! But even more so, I was excited because I saw how happy it made my son. . .and I could only imagine how happy my grandson was! [Would he even sleep tonight??] It was a moment of history I will remember more for the joy I received second hand than what I experienced up front on my own.
Now, I should probably go check my son's blood pressure!! : )
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