Bloody Mary and the Pepper Jack Pigs

I can muster some excitement about college football season starting right now because it's very, very fresh.  I've said before, I like the idea of going to football games, and I certainly support our Dukes, but the luster quickly wears off and I become bored.  For now, though, the season just started, and the novelty is still there.  Enjoy it while it lasts.

We made a last-minute, agonizing decision to stay home from the lake yesterday so we could attend the home opener at JMU.  It had been quite the dilemma, so I was happy to just have a decision made.  We packed up the tailgating supplies, somehow managed to find purple to wear, and headed to the 'burg for the fun and frivolity.

Tailgating is my favorite sport.  Sitting around with a drink in my hand hanging with my favorite peeps is just good fun, and I LIKE that the toughest decision I have to make when tailgating is what to drink!  I'm not big on tailgating games, though...Corn-hole doesn't keep my attention, ladder golf has always scared me, with good reason, and running around throwing a football?  Well, let's just leave that to the boys, because I don't want to get sweaty.  But, I may have found a game I can get behind...KanJam!  Two "trash cans" and a Frisbee--who invents these things?  It's  fun...but you have to stay alert, or you'll take a Frisbee to the face.  Trust me on that.

Several Bloody Marys and Pepper Jack Pigs in Blankets later, it was game time, and the masses headed into the stadium.  Andrew was impressed enough by his run-in with Duke Dog, who had a new scepter with him, to make this Sharpie sketch during the game. 

Football games are as much about the pre-game and the marching band for me as they are about football.  I get giddy with emotion during the "America the Beautiful" and "The Star-Spangled Banner", and the sound of the drum line reverberating off the sides of the stadium gives me the chills.  My personal high point of the game?  Hearing the MRD's ROCK "Start Wearing Purple."  Most of the football crowd wasn't sure what to think, but they will..."it's just a matter of time!"

The game was great, the Dukes won easily, and it turned out that the golf cart parade at the lake was rained out anyway, so good calls all around.  To sum up, it was a day in which these things happened:

I discovered a new recipe.

My purples didn't match.

Andrew got a job.

I took a Frisbee to the face.

The boy ripped his pants, not once, but twice.  (Darn tailgates!)

A shot-gunning contest was lost.

I did not fall down.

We paid more to park than we did for tickets.

We did not take a shuttle bus.

Leigh Ann and Kristi became Hokie widows.

Tootsie Roll Pops made me cry, and I missed Bev, terribly.

Back Atcha, Tootsie Wootsie!!

Sometimes I really just don't know where to begin, and I sit here with my fingers on the keyboard and just let it go...this is one of those times.  I need to do this, but I'm at a loss for words, at least, for words that will be adequate...because there aren't any.

My family and I lost a dear, dear friend yesterday.  And this is where the words fail me, because "friend" isn't good enough to describe the beautiful soul that Bev is.  She has been so much more to us, especially over the last few years, that "friend" just seems to trivialize it.  In spite of her own worries, her own grief, her own family, she was a rock for us, especially for my sister and me.  She was the one who had the strength and the presence of mind, and the good Catholic faith to be able to recite the Rosary over and over as Edna slipped away from us.  How she even uttered words, I'll never know. 

She was the one who promised to be there for us where and when Edna couldn't...and who kept that promise.  She was the one who would send randomly-timed text messages saying, "I love you so, so much!!!" just because she wanted us to know.   She's the one I cry for now, as I sit here struggling to see the screen through my tears.

Bev was Edna's best friend.  She and her husband were married the same year as Dad and Edna.  They taught at the same school together for their entire teaching careers.  They had children at the same time, and both loved books, teaching, and wine.  But most of all, they loved their families, and everything, EVERYTHING centered around that love.  I'd rather call them sisters, because that's closer to the description of their relationship...and in return, that makes us family. 

We were in the car, packed and ready to leave for the lake, when I heard the news yesterday.  Edna's van, that is, that we were borrowing for the trip.  And for some reason, I just could not make myself get out of the car, as if sitting there in the passenger seat made it any better.  And as I went digging in the glove compartment for a drive-thru napkin or travel pack of tissues to wipe my tears, I found a book of Edna's instead.  I don't think those are accidents.

See, there's a very strong, reassuring thought that I have.  Yes, She of No Belief in the Afterlife, She of Little Faith, She of More Questions than Answers!  In spite of all that, I feel...no, I KNOW that Bev and Edna are together somewhere, hopefully drinking wine and cackling as they used to...and watching the cycle continue as their children start their married lives and have kids of their own, building on that friendship that started so many years ago.  And that makes me smile, in spite of the tears.

When I texted her yesterday morning to tell her that I loved her...her last words to me were, "Back atcha, tootsie wootsie!!!"  I'll cherish those words forever.  If there's a lesson here, and there doesn't necessarily need to be, it's to say those words when you feel them, to make sure those you cherish know. 

I love you, Bev.  Thank you for everything.