Be happy for me Met's fans. Much as you wanted this win, you cannot possibly have needed it worse than I. I've never been able to afford tickets to sports events, though I've gotten to watch a handful of Royals or Chiefs games courtesy of an employer. Any more, I can't watch the games because I get so tense. I even complain sometimes when my favorite shows are preempted by such an event. I've been heard to complain that the Kansas City fan base is a little "nutso". But I never cease to hope that "my" teams will win.
Sunday night when I went upstairs to bed, the final game of the World Series was tied. Suddenly, just as I was slipping off to sleep, my entire neighborhood went crazy. Fireworks and gunshots, shouts and celebrating let me know the Royals had won. Quiet tears of joy were "leaking" from my eyes. Embarrassing!
Oh, c'mon it can't be that important you say! Well, if you'd had my weekend, you would understand. A long-term goal of mine had fallen through on Saturday. It was almost a faith shaking disappointment. I'd spent all day Sunday overcoming an event-caused depression.
This wasn't the first time the Kansas City Royals had saved the day for me. In July, 1985, I sold my house and moved my two sons and myself to the Tampa, FL, area. During my nine-month stay there, I never found full-time work. I found temp jobs for forty hours a week and part-time permanent jobs. The salaries were so low that working sixty hours a week I was having a rough time making the rent.
Then, in the fall when I was in despair, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals faced off for the World Series. Having grown up in Southern Illinois, the St. Louis Cardinals had always been my team until the Royals came to Kansas City, my new home town. I was unreasonably happy that my two favorite teams were playing each other. I hadn't planned on choosing a favorite until Jimmy the Greek said the Royals didn't stand a chance against the Cards. As everybody knows, the Royals didn't let me down.
A long-term temp job ended and I was back to hit and miss assignments. There had been no real fall. Christmas Eve had been 85 degrees. If a relative hadn't sent a monetary gift, there wouldn't have been gifts for my boys. When I'd been there almost nine months, the only time I'd seen the Gulf was crossing to St. Petersburg for the funeral of a supervisor's husband. Hurricane Elena had sat off the coast for 24 hours slamming tornadoes at us. While I was always working, my boys were at home racking up $100 a month phone bills no matter what I said. They were lonely.
The final straw was when a teacher at my night job told me the administration was going to have me teach a Saturday class. When would I clean, cook, buy groceries? I rented an eighteen foot Ryder. Because I had two passengers, I couldn't rent an automatic transmission. I had to shift my way through mountains and everything, pulling my car behind. I found temporary work immediately and in a little over a month had a full time job.
All these memories have been pouring in during this World Series. I know I made the right decision about the move and about the Royals. They saved my spirits again last night.
Take heart Met's fans. Your team will win again some day -- maybe just when you need it.
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