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Monday, March 29, 2010

Hockey Game Weekend

Current Mood:
CC is listening to:Nothing right now

We had a great weekend :-)!  The highlight of it was that Steve's mom and dad drove up from Memphis.  We were so excited to show them Nashville.  I actually had a gazillion possibilities in my head, where we could take them, what we could show them, and Steve had to remind me that they would only be driving up on Saturday (and it's a 3 hour drive), and we were going downtown that afternoon, and they would be driving back to Memphis the next morning so there's really not much time to be doing anything else. He said that it would probably be best to let how they were feeling set the pace for the rest of the day :-). 

Mom and dad got into Nashville at around 12:30 or so, which was perfect for going to lunch.  We took them to Genghis Grill, a Mongolian barbecue place.


Dad had previously mentioned to Steve that it's been a while since they had Mongolian barbecue, so we figured it would be a fun experience to do that.  Mom loved how fresh all the ingredients were :-).

After lunch we went to the apartment so mom and dad can visit with the dogs.  Then at around 3 we brought them back to the hotel so they could check in and rest a little bit before we headed downtown at 5.   We were watching a hockey game tonight :-)!

It was about a 20 minute drive to get to downtown Nashville.  Would you believe that event parking downtown was only $5?  In one parking garage it was actually $4, but it was already full.  Boy there were LOTS of people downtown.

 One of the best parts of the Nashville skyline: the AT&T Tower, aka "The Batman Building" or "The Bat Tower."  Picture from http://www.flickr.com/photos/afagen/2119338620/

We wandered around a bit, then figured we needed to have dinner before the game.  All the eating places were packed, so we decided to just go into arena and buy food from the concession stands.

The Bridgestone Arena (formerly the Sommet Center), picture from www.coolsprings.com

Tonight was the Nashville Predators vs. The Detroit Red Wings.  Steve and I wore the Predators colors, Dad and mom rooted for Detroit :-).  I didn't realize there were so many Detroit fans that were coming in to watch that game--we saw several Michigan license plates going home.

What a game!  They were so evenly matched.  First period, 0-0.  Second period, 0-0.  Third period, 0-0.  Overtime, 0-0.  There had to be a shootout, and even then it took 11 rounds before Detroit finally won the game.   Here are some pictures of the game:



Dad did an awesome job of getting the seats.  We had GREAT seats.  We were in section 117, excellent view of the game.  

One thing's for sure: this won't be the last professional hockey game we'll see :-).  We might not watch the next one until next year, but it's nice to know we're now only 20 minutes away from seeing one :-).

We had such a great time.  Mom said next time they'll stay longer so we can do even more stuff :-).  I'm looking forward to it already :-).

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Monday, March 01, 2010

Death and Balloons

Current Mood:
CC is listening to: Nothing right now

Growing up I enjoyed balloons as much as any other child. The store-bought ones never seemed to be as pretty as the ones that were sold by a street vendor. Or if you saw the balloon inflated in front of your eyes it didn’t seem to be quite as mysterious as the ones that were already floating in air.

I remember how much of a struggle it was to convince my parents to get me a balloon—they didn’t think it was practical, and I understood why even at that age… and still, there was just always something so mystical about a balloon.

I’ve had balloons that I’ve let go, and I’ve held on to balloons until they lost their helium.

It was kind of sad watching a balloon slowly lose its ability to float…first it would kind of hover at eye level, and then float lower and lower until it would touch the ground—first tippytoeing around, as if it found the floor too hot, and then eventually it would rest on its side. Every time I saw a balloon reach that state, my mind would wonder for it, “What if?”

On the other hand, letting a balloon go was kind of bittersweet. The moment you make that decision to let go, and you feel that string slipping away from your hands, part of you—the voice that echoes your parents’ warning when they first handed you that balloon, “Don’t let go!”—hesitates. And then there’s that sharp second of regret when the string finally leaves your fist, because this is when you fully realize that you’re not getting it back.

But then you watch it zoom up into the air, like it can’t get to the sky fast enough—and you really do feel happy for it. You feel its excitement, you feel its optimism. You can almost hear it say, “I’m free!” It’s so thrilled that it doesn’t even turn around to thank you. As an adult I find it difficult to imagine that kind of happiness, the kind that would even make you forget to observe any level of social courtesy. But even so, you kind of don’t mind that it doesn’t thank you.

A friend of mine—her mother was in a terrible accident a couple of months ago and has been in a coma since then. Very recently the time came to honor the wishes stated in her living will. They’ve taken her off life support, and this week they’ll be taking her home, to take care of her until she passes away.

Today as I thought about my friend, I wondered if maybe her mom felt like a balloon sometimes. If maybe a string was all that was keeping her from zooming up into the sky.

I don’t know yet what it’s like to lose a parent, and I dread the day when it comes. So I don’t think it’s fair for me to even try to comfort her by saying, “I know how you feel,” or even to say, “I can imagine how you feel,” because I think that kind of pain would be unimaginable.

But I’d like to hope that when the moment comes that her mom does say goodbye to this earth, that it will be a moment of pure excitement and optimism for her—that she zooms up into the air, her spirit saying, “I’m free!”

And I hope that her family will be so happy for her that they won’t mind that she doesn’t turn around to say “Thank you” just yet.


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