Wednesday of Last Week
Unless Clare has a question about a car repair or an unusual bird she’s seen, she seldom calls me on the phone. Sometimes she calls Manyu and asks me to join the conversation, but she doesn’t usually call me direct. Wednesday night she called.
Seeing Clare’s name on my cellphone screen after 10pm would ordinarily worry me, but this time I was pleased. Only a few minutes earlier the Milwaukee Brewers had won Game 5 of the World Series to capture the Series four games to one. I knew that she was calling me to celebrate. I was already thrilled that the Brewers, after fifty-seven years, had finally won their first championship. My daughter’s call was icing on the cake.
To my surprise, Clare was as excited as I was. She told me that she and her boyfriend Chase had gone to sports bars on both of the nights that the Brewers had a chance to finish it (they lost the first night and won on the second). Chase grew up in Nebraska and went to college in Iowa, so I knew that joining a crowd to watch the Brewers was my daughter’s idea, not his. Clare told me that her boyfriend of five years had just seen a side of her that he didn’t know existed.
I, unlike Clare, didn’t watch any of the World Series. I would have been too stressed to enjoy it. Instead I distracted myself with crime novels and tv shows, checking the score online every half hour. I can watch Brewer games during the regular season, as the stakes are much lower, but the outcome of playoff games keeps me awake at night. When the Brewers lose, I’m too upset to sleep. When they win, I’m too excited to sleep. On Wednesday night, I was still awake at 2am even though I hadn’t watched the game.
Thursday
On Thursday night, it occurred to me that if my daughter’s phone call warmed my heart, I should call my mom to talk about the Series. She subscribes to the Brewers TV Network and has watched almost every game this season. When she answered the phone and I mentioned the Brewers, she immediately replied, “Yes, wasn’t it something? Thanks for calling, but I’m watching the Packer game now. I’ll call tomorrow. Bye.”
That was not the reaction I was expecting, but it was my own fault. No one in Wisconsin calls a friend or a family member during a Packer game. I knew that they played on Thursday that week, but because I avoid Packer games for the same reason that I avoid the Brewers during the playoffs, I’d lost track of the day and the time. I didn’t realize that I was calling in the middle of the game.
Friday
At Milwaukee’s celebratory parade on Friday, 750,000 people showed up. The public schools were closed so elementary school kids could someday tell their children and grandchildren that they were there. While all of this was happening, I was quietly donating a pint of blood back in La Crosse. Not surprisingly, the gift for donating was a Milwaukee Brewers teeshirt.
The entire state of Wisconsin is on a Brewer high right now. I hope that the election results on Tuesday extend the good feelings.
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