Back when my Dad passed in the mid-90's..he and I had the same type relationship. He had introduced me to being a pro football fan back in '63 with the Cowboys. He had grown up being a Washington Commanders fan and Jints fan in the 50's.
So when the Cowboys came to town..he was one of the first to buy season tickets down at the Cotton Bowl. He had missed following his teams. I was only about 10 years old then. But me and my two brothers would go with him and Mom each Sunday.
It was an obsession over the years, especially when they began to win after '65. Very few here remember that Dallas was a vilified city because of the Kennedy Assassination in '63 and the Cowboys successes became a new identity for the whole area. And Dad was always sickened by that shooting and what it did to Dallas.
So being a Cowboys fan meant more than just being a football nut. You were a winner who had came back from enormous adversity to successes, too.
So it was with great sorrow when my father had a stroke and was hospitalized. It was the year that Emmitt Smith was holding out and the Cowboys lost the first two games of the year, I believe. Anyway, they were really struggling. That Fall, all Dad spoke about was when was Emmitt going to return and when were the Cowboys going to get things going again.
He wouldn't talk about himself or what was going on..he had me sit next to him in the bed and read him the latest news on the team and Emmitt. Finally as the weeks went by, Emmitt signed and returned and the Cowboys started winning again.
But Dad didn't make it. He had another series of strokes while recovering and we lost him. He left on a Saturday afternoon and I was planning on going to the hospital on Sunday to watch the game with him. But we never watched that game together.
In fact, I couldn't watch the Cowboys the rest of the season that year. It wasn't the same without Dad.
So you are not alone, my friend. You are not alone. You are never alone.
:starspin RedBaLL ExPreSS:starspin