Green and Gold Lightning!

In 1996 I was working in the emergency room in a local hospital. I worked every 3rd weekend, 12 hour night shifts. I was always amazed, even back then in my relative youth...;-), at how fast those weekends would come up! At the time I was working a pm/night rotation and those weekends were challenging in more ways than one. The drive home on Monday mornings were rough! I remember that it would take all my will to keep my eyes open. At this point in my life, I feel this same way by 8:30 pm! ;-) I can't imagine being on that schedule now.
The Packers were in the Superbowl that year. Mike and I are die-hard Packer fans! (Well, admittedly Mike more than me as his love for the green and gold has always been...shall we say...excessive?? ;-))We had a great time watching Brett Favre take Mike Holmgren's team through a stellar season. And they were going to the SUPERBOWL!!! And it was my weekend to work.
I weakly attempted to switch weekends, knowing it was never going to happen. All of Wisconsin had Green and Gold fever, and my co-workers were no exception. So I went through all of the stages of grieving which included denial, rage, pleading, sobbing, praying for a different outcome, tantrums, and finally acceptance. Mike and I were invited to a friends house for the game. Since my shift started at 7, I was able to watch most of the first half. Being surrounded by my friends who were partaking fully in the celebratory fervor was a little rough. But I kept my game face on, cheered loudly, and drank my soda.
I went to work, bracing myself for what was sure to be a crazy, busy shift. I was praying to be able to at least peek every so often at the TV in the lounge to see what was happening with the game. When I got there, there was ONE patient! I was amazed!! If people was having heart attacks, or bleeding to death...they were waiting until after the game to call an ambulance! ;-) I remember that one patient. She had a bad cough and was there because she was bothering everyone at her Packer party with it! ;-) We were able to watch the rest of the game without interruption, until in the last few minutes we got a call that the ambulance was coming with one of our repeater diabetic patients. UGH! Ok, back to work. We got him settled, and got word that the Packers WON the Superbowl! Again we braced ourselves for the onslaught of the patients that were waiting for the end of the game to arrive. We got two more...that was it! I DID, however, get several phone calls from my exuberant husband and friends. They were screaming, hooting, and hollering, reminding me of all I was missing. They were making snow angels and having snow ball fights. And I was pissed! I was missing it! This was very possibly a once in a lifetime event, and I was missing it.
As I look back on how I felt, I'm ashamed. I should have been grateful that I had such an amazing job to go to and the ability to do it. That I had the opportunity to positively affect the lives of my patients, and to work with some incredibly gifted people. But all of those years ago, on that day, I was pissed and resentful. NOT my proudest moment! :-(
Fast forward 14 years. Green and Gold lightning strikes twice!! This time the quarterback is Aaron Rodgers and the coach is a different Mike. I am still a big fan, but MY Mike's love for the Packers has grown even more extreme! (He even wore one of those hand-made Packer bracelets that we found while we were in Mexico. YES!! We were able to watch the NFC Championships while there....beyond FUN!! :-)) I did not have to work for the game! Rachel even flew home from Connecticut to be with us. We had two of the 3 P's....Pizza, (Fillipo's no less), Packers, and instead of pajamas, we wore our Packer garb. My sister was with us. The grandkitties were with us. The game was a nail biter, coming down to the last few minutes. Victory was celebrated with a second generation of snow angels, created by Ted and Phil. I was drinking beverages that were completely different from soda! It was PERFECT!! (Well, except for Bluto getting sick from eating a HUGE bowl of cat food meant for my grandkitties. Poor Bluto...talk about food hangover!! :-O)
I will use the word grateful,(which I vow to use in every post on this blog), for the fact that in this case, I'm so happy lightning did strike twice!
Enjoy this day!