Who Dat in the Super Bowl?

Well, well, well...what has happened in the world of professional football this year? “Who Dat?” became “Dat going to the Big Show.” I never thought I would live to see this day come. Some of my Facebook friends have shared some thoughts on this as well.
Let me preface anything additional here by stating I am a life-long Dallas Cowboy fan, good or bad, and will continue to be, despite Mr. Jones. Given that, I am glad to see the Saints hit the Big Show, finally, Super Bowl XLIV. WOW! To see the excitement throughout this city, much less the state, is impressive. In case you are wondering, yes, I will cheer for the Saints during the game and I do hope they come out on top, despite what I might have to listen to if they do win. (But no, I will not don any Saint paraphernalia [remember, Cowboy fan here] either way. I do have my principles, you know.)

I lived in Denver during the time Elway was there, I watched “The Drive” against Cleveland on TV and saw how that city went ballistic over their Super Bowl berths...three of them while I was there. I also witnessed those same fans’ reactions when the Broncos lost all three, first to the Giants, then to the Redskins, and finally to the 49ers, and how angry those same fans got afterward, going so far as to hang a player in effigy from an overpass for missing the potential game-winning field goal. This was against New York only, the other two were major blowouts—so no hangings, just a lot of negativity. (They did later win a couple.)

My hope is that the outcome of this Super Bowl—win or loose—doesn’t take away from the accomplishment the Saints have made this year by just getting to the Super Bowl—after all, it has been a long time coming. I hope that the fans enjoy the fact that they can still watch their team play this deep in the season. Finally, I hope that we treasure collectively the pride they have brought back to the state post-Katrina, and carry it forward after the game. So, from a died-in-the-wool Cowboy fan, I say “GO SAINTS!” ...At least until next year, that is.

~Jerry

To Breed or Not To Breed...A Philosophical Question?

The question of motherhood, for me, was something I didn’t lend much credence to when I was in high school and college. While I thought my own mother had done a great job with me and my brother, I had babysat and nannied so much during my teen years that I had finally decided, once and for all, that I was NOT interested in such things. I would go to art college, become famous and have a fabulous career, and babies and motherhood were things I could do without.

Fast forward to today, at age 37, where I sit at my desk and try to look busy while secretly surfing the net for baby bedding and furniture (don’t tell my boss!). I now understand, in full detail, the meaning of “biological clock”. By the time I was 27, I had done a 180 about motherhood. I entered into my first marriage full of hope, wanting the picket fence and children and all that stuff. Of course, calling it my “first marriage” gives away the ending, right? Not quite…it turned out to be the beginning for me. Lessons were learned, and I moved on….

Now, I am married to the man of my dreams (cornball, I know, but so true!) and we are planning for a baby. I’ve never been so obsessed with anything in my life! And so sublimely happy, thinking about being called “Mommy”. *sigh*

Of course, the family is excited as well. This will be my parents’ first grandchild—I see a lot of “spoiled rotten” ahead! Since my husband is from a big Italian family, there is no shortage of well-wishers and hopefuls on that side as well. Everyone wants a girl—it would be the first girl grandchild on my husband’s side of the family in many, many years. My father-in-law, such a dear man, I believe is happy about it as well. But, he has opinions, like most people do, about today’s world and the dangers of raising children. He asked me, “Why would you want to raise a child in today’s times?”

Hmmm. An interesting question, I thought. Then I thought, “How do I answer this without inferring that his concerns are immaterial?” And it just popped out of me:

“What if my child is the one that will make a difference?”

Well, he couldn’t say too much to that. That one question embodied all the hopes I had for the future. Nothing can take that away.

Here is my take on the situation: Yes, there are people out there who have kids and pay no attention to them and don’t take any care to raise them to be decent human beings. And yes, there are people out there who will walk all over others, maybe even my future child, on their way to their big, bright future. But apathy is not the answer to what some people may think is a “deteriorating society”, and deciding not to have children simply because there is “bad” in the world is, to me, apathy. I think the answer is to have your children, love them, and raise them to be the best people they can be, because they are the ones who can make the future a wonderful place.

There is still so much good in the world; we just have to see it…and then BE it.

~Michelle