A Heinz Memorial

A HEINZ MEMORIAL

�bad day/good story

By Swissvale72

In the voice of Alexander, through the words of Judith Viorst, yesterday qualified as a �terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.�� My version of it started off with a 7am swim meet at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire�.a prestigious school of which this nation�s President, or is it his dad, is an alumnus.� Its sister school, Phillips Andover, spawned none other than our personal Darth Vader, Bill Belichick.

Yinz know that you must suffer through a preamble of some length prior to my getting to the point, and this rambling is no different.� For those of you not familiar with swimming, well, neither am I really, but both my kids are swimmers, so it�s forced me to become fairly conversant with the sport.� I have respect for swimmers.� Ever been to a swim practice?.� Similar to The Gunner, Bob Prince, describing the announcing of a hockey game as �.�We got the puck, they got the puck, we got the puck, we got the puck,� �..a swim practice is �back�.forth��back�..forth.�� Repeat that 40-50 times, 4,000 to 5,000 yards�..many of those yards involving sets where one sprints 50 or 100 yards, rests about 10 seconds if they�ve sprinted fast enough, then they do it again�.sets of 100 back on the 1:20 for instance.� Don�t get the lingo�.that�s okay.� Add in the fact that the kids are often shaken out of bed at 5am, leave the house at 5:45, drive an hour to the venue, and jump into a cold pool for �warmups� (�bout another 1,000 yards) at 7am, and swimmers are not a wimpish lot.

Anyway, yesterday, I arrived at the meet on a 23 degree New Hampshire morning, dressed in shorts and sandals.� See�if you see people dressed like this in the middle of winter, chances are they�re headed to a swim meet, where�.

1. It�s like a sauna inside, or perhaps an Amazon Rain Forest
2. They have to time the events, which results in their getting wet

It�s amazing really�.electronic timing, and still a pair of hand timers per lane�.just in case.

Okay, here�s the story.� My sandals, of course, were Steelers sandals.� They guy seated next to me noticed them, and then a woman passing in front of me, looked down, and exclaimed, �Steelers!�� �Oh,� I said, �are you a fan.�� She went on to explain that her dad, recently deceased, and a New Hampshire native, was quite the Steelers fan, having developed his affection in the 1970s, a most common occurrence.� She described the depth of his affection for our Steelers, and then told me that his dying wish, when he was ill with a brain tumor, was to have his ashes scattered at Heinz Field.� Through her efforts, those of her mother, as well as the American Cancer Society, she was going to be able to fulfill this wish, as the Steelers had invited her to the Jacksonville game on December 16^th, where she and her family could carry his urn to the 50 yard line, take pictures, and make her dad�s wish come true.� She thanked me profusely for listening to her story.� I assured her that the pleasure had been mine.

Later, I came upon her again, this time with her mother, in the concourse.� Her mom described her husband�s last few days in hospice, how she was encouraged to bring in recognizable items as her husband, and his recognition, were fading rapidly.� She brought in a Big Ben fathead.� Her husband, from his deathbed, immediately, gave a thumbs-up sign, and voiced recognition as well.� She also brought in a print from the Super Bowl XL locker room, Steelers all on one knee in prayer, and assured her husband..�They�re praying for you.�

Now, policy prohibits her from actually sprinkling her husband�s ashes on the Heinz Field sod, but I�m sure that she�ll manage to drop a few ashes, leave a bit of her husband, a Steelers fan for decades, back where he wanted to be.

The mother thanked me as well.� I again, thanked her for sharing such private thoughts and memories.� On this very dark Steelers Sunday, this happenstance conversation stayed with me.� It�s what it�s all about, really.� As we sit three days before Thanksgiving, among so much more, I give thanks for my membership in Steelers nation, the undeniable fact that we are everywhere, and the extent to which it affords me connections with people that otherwise would have been but one more face in the crowd.

I won�t be at Heinz on December 16^th, which by the way, happens to be the widow�s birthday.� She seemed to be in her 60s, said her husband had died young.� Any of you who are there, please keep your eyes peeled for midfield, pre-game, I suppose�..see if you can see this quiet ceremony�.take of your hat in honor.� Personally, I would appreciate your doing so.