Tomorrow is Pie Day. Obviously not the day we eat the pies. That comes on Thursday. But it is the day for making the pies for the day we’ll eat them. It was the day Lauren and I made the pies for Thanksgiving. Some years we weren’t living in the same town, so we had to make pies over video conferences. But it was our day for making the pies. This year will be my second Thanksgiving without Lauren. It will be my first Thanksgiving without Zoe since 2008. And it’ll be my twenty-ninth Thanksgiving without Dad. So Pie Day will be a little sad this year. A little sadder, even, than last year, my first without Lauren since 1997. But… This will be my seventh Thanksgiving with Diane, Brett, Stephanie, and Charlie. It will be my forty-first Thanksgiving with Jon and Brady. It will be the sixty-fourth Thanksgiving with Mom and Malinda. Oh, sure, we don’t always have the opportunity to physically be in the same place for Thanksgiving. But I’m thankful for them being in my life nonetheless. On T...
I never had any brothers. I had a great brother-in-law and an incredible Father who grows even more incredible the older I get and the longer he’s gone (thus, the more I miss him). I have great male cousins, Uncles, a grandfather who thought (erroneously) that I hung the moon, and men friends who have been rocks when I needed it and a boot in the ass when I needed that. I even have what I can only refer to as a boyfriend-in-law (my sister’s boyfriend) who is another strong male presence in my life. And don’t even get me started on my Sister I could live a thousand lifetimes and never begin to show my Sister how much I appreciate her. She is -- and this point is inarguable -- the greatest Sister in human history. But I never had any brothers. So why is this titled “A Tale of Two Brothers?” Of the men I’ve had in my life, two of them stood out and are large reasons why I am alive today: Roger and Mike. Roger was a cousin and Mike was one of the closest friends I’ve...
Before launching into my Super Bowl XLVIII prediction, I have to make one thing clear: I am an Oakland Raiders fan. Perhaps that’s understating things by a factor of about 10,000. I have been an Oakland Raiders fan since 1968. Cut me and I bleed Silver & Black™. Just Win, Baby™. Commitment to Excellence™. I mean, just take a look at a sampling from the ’68 Raiders: Pete Banaszak (RB) Fred Biletnikoff (WR) George Blanda (QB) Willie Brown (DB) Billy Cannon [1] Ben Davidson The Mad Bomber, Daryle Lamonica [2] Double Ought, Jim Otto Art Shell (before he was a catatonic coach) Gene Upshaw (before he sold out NFL players) Warren Wells George Atkinson I started watching football the year before, in 1967. I grew up in Northern California but was actually a fan of the Rams. More specifically, I was a fan of Roman Gabriel [3] , Jack Snow, Les Josephson, and the greatest defensive front four in history: Deacon Jone...
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