Not me. For me, it was football. And yes, I really am a woman.
I love football. I enjoy it so much that I made sure to include it in my wedding reception so that I wouldn't have to choose between the big game and my big day. Yes, I know Jeff Foxworthy said that doing this would punch my card for true redneck membership. Jeff Foxworthy is a manufactured redneck and obviously is unaware of the tradition of Georgia Saturdays.
Needless to say it was Georgia football that brought me my wonderful husband. Alone and jaded in a non-SEC state I yearned for the days when Saturday meant a cute red dress, black heels, and teeing it up between the hedges. Instead I was slinging beers to quasi-Yankee customers that cared as much about college football as Michelle Bachmann cares about accuracy and accountability in campaigning. As I contemplated the amount of money I would need to make my escape back to the land that I loved I spotted my future in a red Georgia hat.
You wouldn't know that my future would be so bright from this first meeting. In fact, my sheer loneliness was more of a driving force than anything Danielle Steel could have penned. I so desperately wanted any reminder of home that I continued to speak to a man whose first remarks to me were sarcastic and dismissive. Generally, in that profession especially, a response like this would warrant no further contact. However, later meetings would reveal a man who was going through the mirror image of my life. Coincidence? Of course! But a first date at a NFL game would prove that the Lord works in the most amazing ways.
I love football. It has brought me most all of my favorite memories. Saturdays in Athens with my sorority sisters. Sunday bar doubles at Break Time with Danielle. Checking fantasy teams with my new husband the morning after our wedding. Dressing my children in appropriate attire for gameday. There will be many more wonderful memories...for tonight, it's the Lions versus the Bears, and I'm enjoying the quiet time between my children's bedtime and my own with the man of my dreams.
It may not be the stuff that makes good television, but this housewife's reality is pretty sweet.
