The alarm goes off at 5:00 am. I’ve got to get out of here early for my Super Bowl experience at Tim’s Texas BBQ. I walked out of the apartment at 5:40 am, and grabbed a taxi. The traffic is light, and I’m walking into Tim’s at 6:05. There are probably 30 people already in the room. Since I’m by myself, I end up sitting at the bar with several other “singles”.
The breakfast buffet (60 rmb) is ready at 6:40, and the crowd has grown. The food is really good, with bacon/eggs/tortillas/sausage/salsa, etc. At kick-off (7:30 am), both upstairs and downstairs areas are full. There is an older crowd (40s & up) downstairs, and a younger crowd (college?) upstairs. Seattle fans are in the majority, at least downstairs. There seems to be a lot of “Deflategate” anti-Patriots sentiment in the room. As the game continues, the “rowdiness” level goes up. It’s a lot of fun!
I left a couple of minutes into the fourth quarter. I just wore out. I’d been sitting on the bar stool for four hours. What a finish to the game (that I missed). Back home, I took a nap, trying to get it in before our Ayi comes in to clean.
Around noon, my brother calls to update me on my dad in Baton Rouge. He got sick shortly after our visit around Christmas, and has been rehabbing in a skilled nursing center trying to get back into shape. My mom has been able to visit him regularly from their place at a really nice assisted living apartment most days. He just moved back to their apartment last Friday, but his energy is still really low. I got a brief “Facetime” glimpse of him on Saturday, and he didn’t look strong. Audio and visual contact is great, but it doesn’t substitute for actual contact.
Around 11:00 pm (9:00 am Central time), my brother called to report that my dad had “passed”. My understanding is that the nurses came in to get him up for breakfast, and he told them he didn’t feel like getting up. An hour later, he was gone. He was 89 years old, and had a great life. We’re all going to miss him, especially my mom. My parents have been married 64 years.