Matthew Osborne
Well, let’s get this out of the way. Everyone is wondering how I am doing after the unpleasantness we call the Super Bowl.
I am not going to talk about the way the game ended or anything from the game for that matter, but I came away very disappointed because I wanted this one for my dad.
I have mentioned here recently that his health is in decline, and after a difficult medical procedure last week, he was not really even well enough to fully enjoy the game. He was not in the mood for entertaining, so I postponed my trip to watch the game with him.
This was a difficult decision, because I just don’t know how many of these we have left. After losing the World Series and Super Bowl in the last four months, the frustration is piling up a bit.
But there are upsides to everything, even the most disheartening of outcomes.
The whole weekend was a struggle in time management, as I needed things to distract me until 6 p.m. Sunday, but yet, had no interest in doing any of them. By Sunday morning, I just wanted the game to kick off and get over with.
But first I needed some perspective, and God has a way of giving it to you, especially in church.
Ollie was very anxious going into the Scout Sunday service, but he eventually calmed down and decided to participate as planned. When it first seemed like he was going to melt down and hide in the bathroom, he later pulled it together, marched in with the boys, then helped his mom read the hymnal and find the right words for the song in the correct order.
(Frankly, he figured that out quicker than I did, as the stanzas with the four lines always confused me.)
Then he went off to children’s church and said that he enjoyed himself so much, he was interested in going again.
Later, when the big game actually started, I expected my boys would be someplace else playing video games. But Cal watched the whole game with me, and in the absence of being able to watch with my dad, this meant a lot to me. I thanked him for watching with me and told him it meant a lot to me. He tried to cheer me up afterward, and even though it wasn’t working, I appreciated the attempt.
My takeaway from these two experiences was twofold. First, I tried to realize that perspective and looking at things in new ways that we previously feared can be good things. Second, my children were trying to tell me without telling me that there are things more important than the outcome of sporting events.
We put a lot of energy into sports and their relative meaning, but we have to hold those things in their proper place in our lives. Still, I still wanted this one for my dad, and I texted him after the game to say that I loved him and I was sorry we didn’t get it done. We talked it out the next day and came to the same frustrating conclusions.
In the interest of perspective, though, this is a big world. The Houston Astros and Kansas City Chiefs undoubtedly have fans who have elderly parents battling health challenges too. The only way for me to reconcile this is to hope that those families got the victories they needed to share from these last few months. May those triumphs bring them the joy and peace they deserve.
That’s about as much perspective as Philly guys can handle.
Matthew Osborne is the editor of The Northeast Georgian. Reach him at 706-778-4215 or editor@TheNortheastGeorgian.com.