Healing

Normally bruises are black and blue, but this one—it’s orange and blue.

I wasn’t prepared for this blow.   After the Broncos beat the Patriots I tried to be superstitious, but I started remembering their two Super Bowl wins.  I began to believe that this year was going to bring number three.

I almost had to kill my roommate's girlfriend yesterday because with about 5 minutes left to play, she yelled upstairs, "Angie, I don't think your team is going to win."  Yes, please go ahead and rub salt in the wound.

The game ended and all I could think was, “It wasn’t supposed to end this way.  We weren’t supposed to lose at home.  Our season wasn’t meant to end this way!”

Dragging myself out of the fetal position I had assumed on the couch, I slunk upstairs—determined to start the first step of healing: denial.  

The rest of Sunday passed by as I lay on my bed in a haze of books and my favorite Christmas gift.  

Today I saw a glimpse of the second step of healing: hope.  This morning a coworker sighed, “Maybe next year…” I replied in the affirmative.  

But I’m not completely out of the first stage yet:  football?  What is this thing you call football? ;-)

Leftovers

We were eating shrimp cocktail while watching the Broncos win on Saturday night. My sister turned to me and handed me her shrimp tail, “Here you go.”

I thanked her sarcastically. “What’s this for?” I asked.

“They’re fairy wings,” she replied.

I laughed, charmed. “Really? Why am I eating them?”

“Because they’re magic,” she answered.

“Just the wings, huh?”

"I ate the fairies because they contain more magic," she explained.

My brother interrupted, “She’s just giving you the leftovers.”

Go Broncos!

Time in a bottle

Tonight the fog was lying low over the city, making me feel like I was living in a fairy tale—a fitting end to a pretty perfect day.

• Brunch in a cozy spot in the midst of an icy wonderland with a high school friend.
• An afternoon nap while the Broncos won.
• Meeting with two chapter members and knowing that the chapter will be recognized nationally for their excellence again.
• Having the issue of too many potential chapter leaders for the election tomorrow.
• Spending a couple hours with a senior member of the chapter discussing issues for the election.
• Buying ingredients for my aunt’s cherry-wine jello—a nod to the years of Thanksgiving spent in Illinois and my contribution to my Colorado family’s tradition.