Though it has been almost thirty-three years since my dad passed away, I still think of him often. My mother has been gone even longer at close to thirty-eight long years, and I miss her too. But this is a story about him. Dad and I had a rare opportunity to become close after her death. Teenager and seventy-year-old together trying to cope after such a sad loss. We had more things in common than not, however, so the huge age gap wasn’t that daunting. Afterall, we both loved football.
The only problem was that Dad liked the Oakland Raiders, and my favorite was the Kansas City Chiefs. Those two teams were huge rivals back in the 70’s. And even though we lived within greater New York City’s boundaries, our teams’ games were frequently televised. It was shear joy and agony when both were matched up against each other and on tv. Father- daughter settled in for often nail-biting games, rooting madly for our respective teams. One’s frown of disappointment was the other’s crown of celebration.
Today, the Chiefs and Raiders are playing against each other on television in Portland, Oregon. It’s a rare indulgence when I get to see these teams matched up. Many years gone by, and so many different players have worn the uniforms. One team even switched cities for awhile (L.A. Raiders). So today I think of Dad, and I fondly recall our enjoyment of Chiefs-Raiders football. Right now Dad would be a bit disheartened because my Chiefs are leading 10-0. The announcer just said “old AFC rivals who are both back on top of their division”. Yes indeed, Dad. Somehow, somewhere, I think you know that.
Update: And Dad is having the last laugh because his Raiders beat my Chiefs 23 – 20 in OT. Did you pull some strings up there Dad?
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