On Monday morning, I got a text message from my mother saying my Dad was in the hospital having an "a-fib" event. She downplayed it and made it seem like everything was OK. I talked to him Monday night and we talked about what we'd grill at Indiana today.
On Tuesday, he was still having his "a-fib" event. I'm no doctor, so I didn't know how serious this was (and still kind of don't). But he was under good care in ICU. We talked again Tuesday night and again he talked about meeting for breakfast in Lewisburg before the game today and how he was looking forward to that. Late Tuesday night he called me to say the a-fib event had ended and his heart was back to a normal rhythm.
On Wednesday morning, he got sent home. I talked to him and again he talked about going to the game today. I talked to my mom later in the day telling her that I'm not so sure it was a good idea that he went, given what happened this week. Later that night he called and, sounding exhausted, said if I wanted the tickets to go with a friend (or alone) I could have them. I told him to sell them and I'd come up today to watch the game.
Went up today with the wife and watched the game at their house. Helped him stack some firewood and take care of some other odds and ends before the game. Then we smoked some wings, commiserated about the goddamn safety blitz, and eventually took in a PSU victory.
I don't care what we expected to happen. I don't care if Indiana is normally a perennial doormat but is having a decent season this year. Sometimes I think we get too wrapped up in the team not performing as we want them too and forget the fact that for a lot of us PSU football is a family affair and not so much about the straight-up performance of the team as much as it is about taking in whatever that performance is with friends and family. Winning today by 3, or 7, or 21 didn't matter. The simple fact that it's a W regardless of point total was enough for me.
Looking forward to being at Rutgers in 2 weeks. 10-2 or 11-1 won't matter. Sometimes it's just good to be there and soak it all in.
On Tuesday, he was still having his "a-fib" event. I'm no doctor, so I didn't know how serious this was (and still kind of don't). But he was under good care in ICU. We talked again Tuesday night and again he talked about meeting for breakfast in Lewisburg before the game today and how he was looking forward to that. Late Tuesday night he called me to say the a-fib event had ended and his heart was back to a normal rhythm.
On Wednesday morning, he got sent home. I talked to him and again he talked about going to the game today. I talked to my mom later in the day telling her that I'm not so sure it was a good idea that he went, given what happened this week. Later that night he called and, sounding exhausted, said if I wanted the tickets to go with a friend (or alone) I could have them. I told him to sell them and I'd come up today to watch the game.
Went up today with the wife and watched the game at their house. Helped him stack some firewood and take care of some other odds and ends before the game. Then we smoked some wings, commiserated about the goddamn safety blitz, and eventually took in a PSU victory.
I don't care what we expected to happen. I don't care if Indiana is normally a perennial doormat but is having a decent season this year. Sometimes I think we get too wrapped up in the team not performing as we want them too and forget the fact that for a lot of us PSU football is a family affair and not so much about the straight-up performance of the team as much as it is about taking in whatever that performance is with friends and family. Winning today by 3, or 7, or 21 didn't matter. The simple fact that it's a W regardless of point total was enough for me.
Looking forward to being at Rutgers in 2 weeks. 10-2 or 11-1 won't matter. Sometimes it's just good to be there and soak it all in.
