Life's Path

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Grey Cup 2009

November 2009 was a time of rest for the most part.  I had no scheduled appointments with doctors and no testing being done.  It was kind of nice to have a break and to just get some much needed rest and let my body try and do some healing.

For those who don't know, Glenn and I got married on November 24, 2001.  We got married on Grey Cup weekend so that we could celebrate many Grey Cups and anniversaries together.  If it works out, we plan to be at a Grey Cup during our anniversary weekend.  We are so lucky that this year the Grey Cup was in Calgary.  We have had our tickets for months and we are ready to head to Calgary and have a weekend of fun and watch the big game.  This year was a real treat as the Saskatchewan Roughriders were in the Grey Cup and the city was abuzz with excitement as Roughrider fans are numerous in every city throughout Canada and to have them in the big game=big excitement.

We headed to Calgary the evening of the 27th and we stayed at my wonderful Uncle and Aunt, Herb and Vicki's home.  The 28th Glenn and I met up with good friends Rae Ann and Sheldon and their kids to have lunch with them and to meet their new daughter who came into their family a couple of months earlier.  It was a wonderful time to catch up with them and to see the new family.

After lunch, Glenn and I then headed to downtown Calgary to take part in the Grey Cup festivities.  There was so much going on and the energy was high.  The trick was to keeping my energy high enough for the day.  Our goal was to head to "Riderville" and to party with the Saskatchewan fans.  Problem is, the line up is blocks long to get into the venue!  Now, it isn't very often that we use Glenn's celebrity status as an alumni football player with the CFL but sometimes you have to try and use it.  This was one of those moments.  But man, the security there did not care who you were.  A few minutes after us trying to get in, some of Glenn's former teammates showed up (Craig Ellis and Henry "Gizmo" Williams) and we all tried to get in.  Now, if you don't know who Gizmo is, he is a pretty big deal in the CFL.  The fans waiting in line were pretty pumped to see him there.  But we STILL couldn't get in.  After lots of talking and whatever, they finally let us all into the venue.  Phew, we made it!  But by this time, I am starting to fade fast.

But the energy is high in the room and I am trying to go off of that.  It was lots of fun to be there and to see all those crazy Roughrider fans.  It truly was an experience to be in Riderville!
Gizmo with Rider fans at Riderville

I really don't want to leave the party, but at the same time, I am just physically exhausted.  I don't want to ruin Glenn's fun either.  He is meeting up with alumni and I don't want to pull him away from that.  I finally find a chair and I tell Glenn that I am just going to be over in the corner "resting" for a little bit.  I sit on that chair for awhile, just hoping to give my body some rest and to get some energy back.  It helps a little bit and I muster up enough energy so that we can all head over to the Edmonton Eskimo party, the "Spirit of Edmonton".  By now there are about a dozen Eskimo alumni together as we head to the Spirit of Edmonton.  Again, the line ups are long.  Again, we have to work some magic to get into the venue.  We get in and I am just fighting back the exhaustion, the pain, the nausea, the tingling and numbness etc.  Again, I don't want to ruin the moment, but I am seriously falling apart physically.  I have to remember that we still have to attend the game tomorrow afternoon and I don't want to do myself in so badly that I can't go to the game.  With tears in my eyes, I finally go to Glenn and tell him that I am just done.  I can't do it anymore.  We have to go back to my aunt and uncle's and I have to get rest.  Glenn is totally understanding and we leave.  Despite what is going on with my body, we still did manage to have a good day.  It just could have been a really good day if we weren't having to deal with my stupid body.

Sunday morning, the day of Grey Cup, we wake up and I am still a mess.  I have a bath in my aunt's big jetted tub to try and get some relief.  I take massive amounts of pain killers and try to just get myself functioning.  Thank goodness we don't have to be at the game until later in the afternoon.  Thanks goodness the weather is decent and I know I am not going to be freezing cold and trying to keep my body functioning from extreme chills and shakes. (But truth be told, when I do feel good, I think that a great Grey Cup is when it is cold and snowing...call me crazy!!)  The game was a good one, one of the craziest endings in history and although the outcome wasn't what we wanted, I made it through the game.  We have a long drive home and when we get in the car I pretty much pass out from exhaustion.  Grey Cup 2009 is in the history books!



Going into the big game

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