perspective, part 2

on the other hand, i got to spend part of today with my brother pj and his son at good old mountaineer field -- not necessarily in the same section, but at the same ballgame.

i apologized to my nephew that the team wasn't able to give him a win, but my brother was grateful that he got to spend some time with a couple of his old fraternity brothers.

i got a chance to hang out with them for a while out in the blue lot in front of the stadium and commiserate on the vicissitudes of middle age.

there was laughter, both rueful and amused, reminiscing, re-living heartbreaking wvu losses and a little catching up what everyone was doing.

at the game, i sat next to a lawyer from cleveland and her friend who teaches fifth grade science in the montgomery county, md., school system, as well as an increasingly frustrated dude from winfield, w.va., and a third grade art teacher and her husband.

(didn't get to experience the ramping up of high-fives all around that had accompanied the snowball nature of scoring in our wins this fall, so there was some disappointment there, but at least the company was good.)

was able to have a nice supper of hot wings, fries and bleu with pj and his boy and my sister, joy. it was a nice couple of hours.

got home to learn that my son had been a perfect angel all day for his mama (so that's where all our karma went) and i didn't need to feel guilty about leaving them for about 12 hours.

while i would have loved a win and a continued chance to win a conference title, all in all, this wasn't a bad day.