End of an Era

Sigh.

It is with heavy heartedness that I report, Brett Favre has announced his retirement.

We have already missed most of Science and half of a "meeting" due to the unexpected news. Luckily I am writing during recess and hopefully we will recover enough in the next 20 minutes to resume school.

Although Matt is a fair weather Packers fan, I , on the other hand, am totally devoted, almost to a fault. It might have started as a convenient reason to sit down and relax on Sunday afternoons or it might have been the excitement of my first game...August 1982...that forever cemented football in my heart.

We had moved to Green Bay just a few weeks earlier, right before I started 8th grade. My parents bought a house very near Lambeau Field, I didn't know at the time how that would affect my life and influence the memories I carry in my soul.

My Aunt Beth , Uncle Greg , Great Uncle John, my parents, me and my brother and sister all attended the Bishop's Charity game that month. It was hot and I didn't know anything about football. We sat in the end zone only sections away from where my dad now walks the stands selling beer for the first 3 quarters of every game.

My Uncles explained what a first down was and spelled out the details of the game. I was hooked. My dad and I went to many games throughout the next four years. Names of players are not clear in my mind. I was a girl and I didn't understand the intricacy's of the game yet. I remember singing "Eddie Lee - - - Ivory" to the tune of Ebony and Ivory. I remember eating at Burger King with Johnnie Gray. It was a time when the only Black people in Green Bay were Packer players. Strange comment I know but I'm just saying...that's just the way it was.


When I met Matt at the end of my Junior year, things changed. I thought going to the snowmobile races on a Sunday afternoon with him was more fun than going to see the Packers with my dad, or sitting at home with my parents watching the game. It was only temporary, by the time we were married we spent each Sunday afternoon of the football season at my parents house. I remember going out for breakfast one Sunday morning after church and seeing Brett Favre in the Bay Family Restaurant, a little motel restaurant known for it's small town atmosphere. Nothing fancy, eggs and toast, orange juice and hash browns. Eggs Benedict for the more adventuresome. He sat alone and ate his breakfast dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt. No reporters, no fans, I wonder how long it's been since he's done that?

Matt and I are the only ones in our house who have ever experienced anybody but Brett as our beloved quarterback. I was pregnant with our first when he started playing for us. I remember the game where Don "Majik" Majkowski was injured and Brett went in.

The year we won the Super Bowl I was pregnant with our 3rd. No one knew but us.

When Hayden was 9 Matt took him to see a charity baseball game: the Packers and the Timber Rattlers. He had tickets to the dug-out.


Sam went to his first Packer game on his 4th birthday.

Our youngest is the only one who hasn't experienced Lambeau Field.

He will never see Brett play in person.

I've almost gotten rid of the lump in my throat at the thought of football with out Brett.

Thanks for the memories.

Sigh.