Well. This weekend was one for the books.
The start of college football season is always one of my favorite times of the entire year. All last week I’d been looking forward to sitting in front of the T.V. on Saturday morning with a cup of coffee as I flipped back and forth between ESPN Gameday and SEC Nation. Then we had plans to go over to Gulley’s house and watch the Aggies play UCLA. We were going to get a tray of nuggets from Chick-Fil-A and Gulley was even going to make Captain Rodney’s cheese bake dip.
(I always know college football season is on the horizon when Gulley tells me she’s ordered “The Captain”. It’s hard to find in our local grocery stores but totally worth the trouble of ordering online.)
But then something happened. Late Wednesday afternoon I was in the process of cutting up a rotisserie chicken for dinner (I cannot deal with raw chicken, thus I buy it pre-cooked.) when Sophie texted me and said, “Hey, I just forwarded you an email from someone at ESPN”.
So, you know, that piqued my interest.
I washed the chicken off my hands because SALMONELLA and then checked my phone to see the email. As it turns out, it was a PR person at ESPN that Sophie met this summer at SEC Media days and she was wondering if I might be going to the Texas A&M game on Saturday because she’d love for me to be her behind-the-scenes guest at SEC Nation.
Um. YES PLEASE.
P was sitting at the kitchen island and I said, “So here’s something that just happened.” And because he knows me so well, he immediately said, “You have to go.” And so I began to figure out a new agenda for the weekend and Gulley talked to Honey and Big to let them know they might be having some unexpected house guests for the weekend and a plan totally came together. It’s like we were the A Team.
And here’s the part of it that I really haven’t spoken out loud to many people because it’s almost too much and still so fresh. I’d been thinking a lot about the first Aggie game and knew that it would be one of the moments when I would really miss Jen. Grief is a tricky business and sneaks up on you at unexpected times when all of a sudden you remember all over again that person you loved is gone. No matter what we all had going on in our lives over the years after we graduated from A&M, Jen always tried to meet up with us to either watch or attend the first game of the year. Even last September when she was so sick, she made the trip to San Antonio with Linc so we could all watch an Aggie game together. And the funny thing is Jen wasn’t nearly as intense about the Aggies as Gulley and I are, but she knew it was our love language and it was something we could all get excited about. So to have this fun opportunity pop up at the last minute, right before the first A&M game of the year, felt a little bit like Jen was smiling down on us and worked it out with God to give us a fun surprise. Maybe that sounds weird, but it makes me smile.
Gulley and the boys picked Caroline and me up on Friday afternoon after school and we made our way to College Station. We got there about 8:30 and Honey had brownies and chicken salad waiting on us. After we ate and visited for a while (and tried to figure out our best parking strategy for the next morning), we headed to bed because we were all exhausted after the second week of school and had to be on campus by 9:00 Saturday morning.
As it turns out, it’s much easier to get kids up and excited about a fun day of football than it is for a day of school. All of us were ready to head out the door by 8:30 to SEC Nation at Spence Park. Once we arrived, it was almost too much to take in. We got a tour of the SEC bus, the kids shook hands with Coach Sumlin as he made his way to the set, and then we watched them open the show.
This is Caroline and me in front of the bus.
Coach Sumlin being interviewed.
Matt the Bus Driver doing a yell with the yell leaders.
When the Aggie yell leaders finished their on-air segment with Matt the Bus Driver, they came and found us because we had asked earlier if the kids could get their picture with them. And the whole group of them couldn’t have been nicer as they talked to the kids about Aggie football and gameday.
After the show was over, we were able to walk on the set and meet Marcus Spears, Laura Rutledge, Tim Tebow and Maria Taylor. They were all so friendly and gracious, especially considering they’d just finished a two hour show in the blazing heat and been up since 4:00 a.m.
Please notice in that picture that I’m kind of stooping over in front of Maria Taylor. I actually asked her if we would be able to see her in the picture if I stood in front of her and she assured me it would be fine. P always accuses me of thinking I’m so much taller than I am and we have been so tickled because this photo is proof of that. Maria Taylor is 6 feet 2 inches tall and was wearing heels. (She’s also stunningly gorgeous. If only I had thought to ask her about her skincare regimen.) I am 5 foot 6 inches on a good day and, truthfully, probably closer to 5 foot 5 inches. So, yes, she is clearly seen in this photograph. Bless my heart.
We had three hours to kill before the game actually began so Jackson suggested we go see the horses and Parsons Mounted Calvary.
And we stopped by a booth and got pancake selfies made. Because who wouldn’t want a pancake selfie?
Then we watched the band and the corps march in.
Gulley managed to get herself a beer from some UCLA fans by telling them it’s a Texas tradition to share with the home team fans.
Eventually we made our way into Kyle Field because the kids wanted to watch the team warm up. Our seats were perfect, mainly because we were on a smaller first row that we had all to ourselves which meant we could all get up to get snow cones and water and lemonade and popcorn and go to the bathroom as many times as we wanted without being in anyone’s way.
It has always been my hope to fully indoctrinate Caroline into Aggie culture and the fact that she lost her voice by the end of the game is proof that I have succeeded.
The Aggie band was awesome as always.
In case you are unaware, the game went into overtime and was so tense that I even forgot how hot I was and quit thinking about my plans to burn the dress I was wearing as soon as I got home since there was no way it was ever going to be the same. At one point before halftime I went to the bathroom and when I looked in the mirror, I realized I actually had mascara running down my face because it had melted off my eyelashes. It wasn’t my best look.
The Aggie football team has been taking years off my life for more years than I can even count at this point and I don’t know why I’m even surprised anymore that I need blood pressure medication and a brown paper bag at the end of almost every game. But they pulled out a huge win over a ranked UCLA team in overtime, thanks to Trevor Knight and a stellar defensive stand. And Gulley and the kids and I all agreed that being there live and in person to witness it was so much better than sitting in her living room eating Chick-Fil-A and Captain Rodney dip.
We drove back to Honey and Big’s house to spend the night. The kids played football in the front yard after we got home, but Gulley and I each only wanted a shower and to remember what it felt like to not have a core body temperature that rivaled the surface of the sun. Nena’s best friend, Dorothy Kay, had made us spaghetti for dinner and soon enough we found ourselves in our pjs, eating a delicious dinner with a glass of wine in our hand, toasting what had been a tremendous day and watching more football.
And it confirmed what I have always known, college football season really is the most wonderful time of the year.