I have felt alone in a crowded room. I have felt alone with a group of
friends. I have felt alone in a church
full of people. I have felt alone, when
I was actually, alone. And I am quite
used to being in the minority. But I
have never felt more alone or so much the MINORITY as I did in Lambeau Field on
Christmas night as one of 5 Chicago Bear fans within 100 miles.
Prior to entering the stadium, it was all fun and
merriment. Tons of tailgaters, lots of
Merry Christmas and camaraderie, people singing, people laughing, footballs
being thrown, brats cooking and the beer flowing. They even welcomed me with open arms in the
restroom line. Probably because no one
cares who uses a Porta Potty when it is 17 degrees outside.
I should have secretly gone as a Bears fan and when I say
secretly, I mean I should have worn Green and Yellow and HID my clothes. It didn’t get ugly until I went to go into
the stadium and of course I was in such awe of the moment, that I thankfully took
it all in stride. The gentleman taking
my ticket, laughed hysterically at me (I should add that I was all decked out
in Bears hat, Bears Jacket (3 of them), Bears scarf, even my Orange Keens)…BIG
MISTAKE. I looked like that fish you see
on the National Geographic shows, which thinks swimming off on his own will
somehow do him good, only to be eaten alive by the predator. In hindsight I would have probably told him to
kiss my butt because Trevor was taking me on a tour of the stadium, but he
laughed at me hysterically saying “not only was I at the wrong place, but I was
going in the wrong door because my seat was on the other end.” Merry Christmas to you too Jackwagon!
For lack of better terminology, the game changed when I set
foot inside the stadium. It was all
business. The niceties spread on the
outside in the parking lots, were to remain in the parking lots. There was a game to be won and it didn’t
matter what team they had to go through.
It did not help that they were playing their longtime rivals (my beloved
Bears) and that there is a tremendous amount of animosity.
I am not sure if I went into it so awestruck that I was dumb
to the concept that I was outnumbered, or if I really believed in my heart it
would be fun and people would be jovial.
Oh they were jovial alright. As
long as the Packers were scoring. When
the Bears scored their first touchdown I screamed like I do at home and was
immediately told to sit my ass down.
Well…for some unknown reason I did.
I suppose knowing that I was one Bear fan out of 73,000 probably helped
me sit my butt down, but if you know me at all you know I love confrontation…it
took every ounce of willpower I had to actually do that…sit my ass down. I never cheered again, the rest of the
game. I did silently. To myself.
Bundled up praying to God, not only for my life, but for the Bears to
pull out some miracle. The Packers
needed to win this game to secure home field advantage during the playoffs. The Bears needed to win this game to not be
eliminated from the Playoffs. I wanted
to cry not only because I was experiencing this, but what was I going to do if
the Bears did win? I guess take off all
my clothes and bury them in a trash can.
The story I have just told does not do justice for how much
fun I actually had with Karen, Trevor and Samantha. I have not seen Karen in over 11 years…it was
as if we had never let that many years go between us…that to me is a GREAT
friend. We laughed. Hard enough I almost peed my pants, on more
than one occasion. Trevor was an amazing
host and tour guide. I did not care where
our seats were, just that I was doing something I never dreamed I would do in a
million years. To top that off, we were
stopped on the freeway, literally stopped, to allow the Bears police escort
through. That was a moment you just don’t
have every single day. And God bless
Karen, who kept saying, “We don’t care who wins!” I really didn’t either and I thought everyone
else would be that way as well, but I was wrong.
Despite it all, there are no words to express how I
felt. It was truly the best Christmas
present ever, my only regret is that I didn’t have more time to spend with
Karen. It was a whirlwind trip, like I
wasn’t even gone 24 hours. Of which 11
were driving…but I honestly didn’t mind, because I love getaways. And I got to see a dear friend. And I got to cross something off my bucket
list. And it was a Christmas I will
never forget.
I can rest peacefully now that my Bears are officially out
of the playoff hunt and relax now. I
cannot wait until next year, because after all, as a Chicago fan, there is
always next year.
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