December 5th, 1982. I remember being bundled up from head to toe, with my grandma and aunt, at Veteran’s Stadium, watching the Eagles eventually lose to the St. Louis Cardinals, 23-20. It was one of the earliest football memories I have with my grandma, the other being when they went to the Super Bowl in 1981, again losing to their opponent, this time 27-10.
This year, for the first time in 39 years, grandma won’t be there for kickoff. She won’t be sitting at the table, waiting for me, to talk about how they’re going to do this season. She won’t be there on Monday, to call, and talk about how the game went.
Growing up, I always watched the Eagles game with my grandma. I sat in the main chair in her living room, she would sit/lay on the sofa, and we’d watch the games together, cheering, groaning, sometimes hi-fiving, She would always wait until either the game was in hand, or until the end of the game before she started Sunday dinner(when they played at 1). When they started later, she would have them on her b/w TV in the kitchen, watching as she prepared dinner for all of us.
As I got older, I didn’t really watch many games with her, but I always stopped in on Sunday morning to talk football with her, and we always talked during the week about how they did, and how they’re going to do in their upcoming game. Last season, while she was in the hospital for the opener, I stopped in the next day to tell her how they did(again they lost-sensing a pattern?) One of the last things I ever said to her was that we’d be watching the Eagles-Cowboys game together from her hospital bed, as I figured it might be my last opportunity to do so. She passed away the night before, as the Eagles went on to have one of their poorest performances of the year against Dallas(damn, those last two sentences made me tear up).
Grandma always made sure I had Eagles gear to wear. I remember her buying me Zubaz pants at Sears, and numerous Starter hats/jackets/shirts at Boscov’s. She herself, had her lucky sweatshirt that she wore for each game, and also her lucky Eagles football, which she was buried with.
Anyway, I plan on going into an empty house this Sunday, for old time’s sake, sitting in the main chair, and remember all the good times we had, when football brought her and I closer than anything else could.
I miss and love you, grandma.
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