The Steagles

My late father-in-law, PopPop, as we called him, was raised as an Eagles fan. He raised his son to be an Eagles fan, who in turn taught me and John Michael how to be Eagles fans. PopPop was a full-blown Eagles fan! He loved all the Philadelphia teams: the Eagles, the Phillies, the 76ers and the Flyers.

I didn't know him to be a fan of any other teams ... until he moved from the Philadelphia area to Pittsburgh 8 or 9 years ago. Him and Grandmom moved to Pittsburgh to be closer to their grandkids. (Their daughter lives in Pittsburgh and we live in Indiana, only 7 hours further.) So, it seems that PopPop felt that he needed be loyal to the local teams. He was a very loyal person! While living in Pittsburgh he somehow became a Steelers fan too. We never could quite figure this out but that's what he said. :)

In the past few years Clint, the kids, and the Cauffman family have had Fantasy Football teams competing against each other. PopPop's team was called "Steagles". :) He had to stay loyal to both of his teams, the Eagles and Steelers. He was a funny man. :)

With all that to say, I've been missing PopPop for the past couple weeks. His Eagles lost in the NFC Championship game 2 weeks ago. He would have been proud of them for even playing in that game. Then the Steelers headed to the Super Bowl! He would have been so thrilled! On top of that, they won the Super Bowl! Oh my goodness, he would have had so much fun during the game!!! It would have been so much fun to watch the game with him! I would have driven 7 hours just to watch the game with him! He would have been beside himself the whole time. I have to laugh at that thought! :) I enjoyed watching football with PopPop. The older he got, the more compassionate he got. Even when his team lost, he gave the other team credit for their hard work.

Even though I wasn't cheering for the Steelers last night during the Super Bowl, (I'm a Kurt Warner fan ... so much respect for him) I thought of PopPop a lot during the game. Did he have any input in the fact that the Steelers won? :) Was he bargaining with Jesus, asking him to bless his daughter? :) It's fun to think those things...

I miss my PopPop ... and Grandmom...
I miss the phone calls ... and there would have been some phone calls last night! :)