Long Promised Post

So, I promised to tell this story to a friend of mine. She is a tried and true Ole Miss Rebel fan and made the trip to the Compass Bowl this year. The beginning of her trip was a comedy of errors much like my Kentucky story. However, she got a nicer ending for that game!

2008 was not a great year for Auburn football. When the 2009 season started, it was full of hope and promise. My whole family goes together to one game at least each year. When I say whole family, I mean my parents, my sister and brother-in-law, and their twin girls. In 2009, we went to the Kentucky game. Auburn was 5-0 at that point, so we were all very excited. All of my life my parents have taken us to at least one Auburn game a year.We usually sat in the endzone. If it cleared out at the end, we would join my grandparents in the 'good seats.' We also used to park almost RIGHT by the stadium and tailgate with the family there and some of my grandfather's cemetery friends (long story).  After my grandfather died and my grandmother was unable to go to the games, we inherited their season tickets (TUF)

It was a 6:00 kickoff, so we decided to drive up that morning. We weren't sure if we would stay overnight or not. My sister was so excited. It was Emma and Ella's first trip to Auburn. We stopped in Evergreen to eat breakfast, as we almost always do. As soon as we got out of the car in Auburn, Ella got sick. We first thought she might have gotten carsick. Then we thought it was something she ate.

The day was about 25 degrees colder than the weather guys had anticipated. It also rained on and off and there had been NO mention of rain. We planned to eat some sandwiches and stuff my mom made before we went into the stadium-my mom had them in a tote bag. We got separated from each other and if you have ever tried to use your cell phone in Auburn on game day, you probably know its mostly useless anywhere near the stadium. Eventually we did find each other, but it was getting close to kickoff. We rushed through the ticket gate. My mom had her tote bag which had ham sandwiches and other stuff in it. We also had blankets and jackets. We don't normally carry so much stuff, but the twins were only two at the time. Since we were carrying so much toddler paraphernalia, the security folks didn't even check my mom's tote bags. So in we go. We got to our seats and my mom pulls out the ham sandwiches. You have to know that we sit in the 'old' section. It is the gold zone. We aren't in any way rich, but my grandfather made a friend years ago who is an old Auburn pharmacist. So these seats are some of the best in the stadium.  Here were are eating ham sandwiches in the middle of folks that donate tons of money to the university eating ham sandwiches.

Meanwhile, the weather is getting colder and colder. Auburn started off well, but they started to stumble a little later in the game.
Ella was getting sicker and sicker. Melinda (my sis) decided to take her to the first-aid station. The paramedics gave her a little medicine, and Melinda and Terry left to try to find a hotel room. We knew we could not get Ella home that night. (This first year we all went, we went in two vehicles) So, my parents, Emma, and I stay for the rest of the game. The game proceeds to go downhill. Auburn lost in the last minute of the game. We stood up to leave. As we walked toward the concourse, Emma threw up ALL over my dad. I will say, the people who run the concessions and security at the stadium rushed to help us. They brought rolls of paper towels, gatorades, and other things. We cleaned up my dad the best we could. At this time, we didn't know that first aid had given Ella real medicine or we would have taken Emma there as well. We also didn't know that first-aid gave them a ride to their car. It took us nearly an hour to get to the car because Emma kept having to stop to be sick. My mom was trying to help with her. Meanwhile, I am carrying the PILES of blankets and tote bags my mom had brought with us, including one Melinda had carried. To be fair, my mom thought we'd have time to get back to the car earlier. It was SOOOOOOO cold by this time. Did I mention it rained? Auburn lost. We FINALLY got to the hotel with Melinda and Terry where Ella was sleeping peacefully and discovered that the light in the bathroom didn't work among other things wrong with the room. We were all too tired and cold to care.

That was terrible as it was happening, but when we look back on it, it is definitely a family memory. Ella doesn't REALLY remember it, but she thinks to say. When she was 4, she would say, 'Remember when I throwed up at the War Eagle game? I throwed up EBREYWHERE!'

So, there- that is my 2009 AU/Kentucky family story. Thankfully, the very next year, we went to the AU/Arkansas game and saw the game of a lifetime!

A Few Things

First of all, I want to congratulate Ashton Richardson. He was a senior Auburn football player this past year. He was also a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship. He most recently won the Bobby Bowden award, which the Fellowship of Christian Athletes awards to the football player who best epitomizes the 'student athlete'. Ashton's major is Animal Science. His GPA is 3.9. Now, if you aren't familiar, Auburn has one of the best large animal vet programs in the country. I can only imagine how difficult those classes are. He managed these grades while being a starter on the football team. He was a walk-on player originally who was given a scholarship. He worked his way to a football scholarship. He wants to be a horse surgeon. He balanced being a great student, a hard worker, a team leader, and a starter without getting in trouble or causing any problem. In fact, he was winning awards that honored his work ethic and grades. What a guy! Congratulations, Ashton. I wish you the best of luck in life and all of your endeavors. If I ever own a horse, I would be sure to take that horse to Ashton if the horse needed surgery.

This part is much harder for me to write. My parents have a neighbor who have a grandson with leukemia. I went to school with his uncle. His dad is quite a bit older than me, so I don't really remember. In 2011, Harrison was diagnosed with leukemia. I have followed the story with others in my community. Harrison and his family live in North Carolina, but there are many of us that know his uncle, grandparents, and some know his dad. Harrison is actually doing quite well, but he is currently on an adventure from the Make-A-Wish foundation. His whole family was flown to Miami for the national championship game.Today, Harrison's dad posted pictures. They met some of the Notre Dame players today, Coach Saban, Kirk Herbstreit, and more I am sure. They got to see the College Gameday set. It looks like an amazing experience. No one deserves it  more than this family. They have stared this cancer in the face and fought with everything they have. Harrison has been strong and brave. He is worthy of hero status. This family has kept God at the front of everything. I know that this has been a topic of discussion recently about whether God cares about outcomes of football games. I don't think He cares about the game, but I know He cares about His children. I have been raised to root against Alabama really. However tomorrow night, I want whoever Harrison is cheering for to win. Believe me, this is hard for me to say. (Special thanks here to Chad Gibbs and his book 'God and Football- I don't think I could have done this without some of the words and points in his book) Since there are picture of his family adorned in the crimson and white with that familiar curly A; I guess I know who I want to win. So for this one night and one night only, Roll Tide, Harrison.

If you want to read more about his family, his dad maintains a blog at http://www.stevemckinion.com
You can find them on Facebook at Pray for Harrison