The Ties that Bind

This week L.S.U. plays the University of Florida in what is billed as a pivotal game in the national college football scene. It is important in that perspective, but the time and circumstances bring to mind things much more compelling in the eternal perspective.

Twelve years ago this week was memorable for me and for my family. We gathered together in Baton Rouge to celebrate my mother's 83rd birthday, knowing it would be her last with us--she was rapidly succumbing to metastatic gallbladder cancer.

It so happened that the same weekend saw L.S.U., the alma mater of my Dad and Mother, my brother, me, and several of my nieces nephews and in-laws, play No. 1 University of Florida on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium. We gathered around the television in Mother's den, and she and the rest of us watched as L.S.U. upset the favored gators. It was a special night for L.S.U. football--it was a much more special night for our family.

Mom and Dad met at L.S.U., two students from rather poor backgrounds who came together as employees in one of the L.S.U. cafeterias, fell in love, and created the family that sat there on October 11, 1997. Dad, who had gone on to become a Ph.D. and teach at L.S.U. for over 30 years, and had been named the L.S.U. Alumni Professor of the year in 1975, had passed away in 1990, dying from leukemia. We worried that mother would not be far behind him, that she would not do well after his death, but she proved us wrong. Her faith in God, and the toughness she gained as the fourth child and only sister in a fatherless home (her father died when she was 5), scratching out a subsistence on a small farm 20 miles outside of Baton Rouge, had prepared her for almost anything, including his untimely passing, her active life thereafter, and her rapidly approaching death.

You might think that someone with less than 4 weeks to live would not have much interest in football or anything else with so little significance beyond the moment of its occurrence. But she sat there, alertly watching, occassionally wringing her hands in anxiety with the rest of us as the game ebbed and flowed toward the unexpected L.S.U. win. Prior to that time, even when alone, she would always know when L.S.U. was playing, football or basketball in particular. But her deep-seated love for L.S.U. was such that she confided she would often turn the radio or television off and on periodically to see what was happening because listening or watching nonstop made her too anxious!!

Ten years later, the family gathered at our house in Mobile to celebrate my brother's 70th birthday. That night we sat in our den and watched as L.S.U. (last second university) played a great game against UF, a game that was the spring board to the ultimate national championship.
It was a great time, full of memories of the '97 gathering, and unbeknownst to us, the last time we would gather as four siblings--my sister, Carmen, died suddenly two months later.

As this week's game approaches, I do not focus on football, but on the unique way that God has used a love for a school and the love of family to create memories. The relationships that have existed over these many years, the gatherings in one place or another to enjoy the common emotion and excitement, the warm but sad memories of last times together, make me wish we were all going to be together again this week to watch the game--not because winning is so important, but because its about love and family and shared histories and experiences--and of course, about winning, too!!

Geaux Tigers!!