Liberty's Library

Originally written September 14, 2004


Mornin' Everyone,

I had a great weekend and wanted to share some of the highlights.

First of all, Micah's football team won on Friday night. He had the first points of the game with a 35 yard field goal. He was so siked about putting that one through! It was great to be there and be excited for him and be the big brother. Lots of family and church family came to the game as well to cheer him on so the stands were full of people pulling for him...and it was an away game!

Then on Saturday morning, Micah played on the JV team and they won that game too. He had all the kicking duties that game so he worked alot. he did well as the team cruised to a 41-8 victory.

The coolest part of the weekend, though, was going to the Ohio State game. However, the coolest part wasn't being at "The Shoe" and it wasn't seeing the best band in the land or even watching my team win a very close game. In order to fully appreciate this, you'll have to read one of my previous posts...the one with all the quotes in it. Go ahead, I'll wait...........

Okay, now that you are caught up, I give you the coolest part of my weekend:

It's right after the Football game on Friday night. It was an away game so, I hop into my car along with my parents and Abby (my niece) and we head back to Marysville to wait for the band and the team to get back. We stop by the high school to wait for the team, but discover that they beat us there because we dropped off Abby at her house. So I go find Micah and we all ride home together.

When we arrive home there is a message waiting for my dad on the answering machine. I'm not paying much attention, you know, the message isn't for me, so I walk on by and head for Micah's room which is where I sleep while I'm home (Micah and I share his room just like old times). I catch a glimpse of my dad fevorishly writing something down from the answering machine message but make nothing of it.

Now, it's 8:00 on Saturday morning and Micah is already at the school to dress and practice for his JV game later that morning. I wake up and head in for breakfast when my mom greets me in the kitchen. She gives me "good mornings" and asks what I want for breakfast. So I'm munching on my Honey Combs and looking out the sliding glass doors that overlook the golf course and noting what a beautiful morning it is...and I noticed my dad was gone. That's when my mom levels me with some great news!

Fast forward to a few hours later. The JV game has just ended with a victory. Micah has left the field to come see us in the stands, but has to go back into the locker room to change. We wait for him by the enterance to the school and when he comes out, he gets leveled by the same good news!

"Look here", says my dad as he holds two OSU tickets.

"Yea, Yea, I know", mumbles Micah, who first believes that my dad is just rubbing in the fact that he and I are going to the OSU game. However, after a second look, he realizes that these tickets are different than the ones that had been sitting on my dad's desk for the past week.

Dad declares, "These are two tickets to the OSU game...two more tickets".

Micah goes nuts! He's jumping up and down and hugging anyone that moves, including this poor couple that just happened to walk by where we were. Picture a football player jumping and screaming like a school girl and that was my brother.

However, the story isn't over. Tyler, my nephew who is about two years younger than Micah came along to the JV game and he's watching Micah go into histerics completely unaware that the same great news is about to knock him off his feet.

"Buddy, you're in...you're going", I said as my dad held out the remaining, precious Ohio State ticket in front of a bewildered 16 year old.

Now you've got two teenaged boys jumping up and down embracing each other and screaming like two school girls...in public!

Then came the explaination concerning the appearance of these "holy grail" tickets from above. Mom chimes in with the details.

"Your dad was calling all over the place yesterday looking for two more Ohio State Tickets and he found some, but they were in Dublin. So, he went in to Dublin before your game and picked them up. That's why we took two cars to the game."

So, on that Saturday afternoon, along with 104,622 of our closest friends, my dad, Micah, Tyler and I watched the two family-favorite teams play one another for the very first time...live. What a day that I shared with my family!

I'll never forget the bridge we walked down from the parking lot towards the Horseshoe that day in Columbus; marveling at the tens of thousands of people walking that bridge with me and the bridges on either side. I'll never forget the "Best Darn Band in the Land" that played with such attitude, pristine dominance, and insistance of respect which 104,622 people freely gave. However, I'll treasure the memories of sitting next to my dad for hours soaking in this moment together...I'll treasure my little brother and nephew getting a front row seat for the game winning 55 yard kick that was directed towards the end zone where they sat...and I'll treasure the bonds strenghtened by the events of that weekend, both family and new aquaintences.

How firm thy friendships...O - HI - O!

Until I see you again,
Be good and be God's ~