A Sentimental Gift, Sabres, and St. Patrick's Eve Fun!

I don't know what's been with me lately.  I came home from work on Wednesday and I just felt a void inside of me that couldn't be filled.  "I don't even feel like running today", I told my husband. He insisted that I get to the gym.  So many folks out there have generously contributed to Dystance4Dystonia on my behalf and are depending on me to complete this for the DMRF.  "It's not about you anymore," he reiterated.  I understood this completely and went to change into my running clothes.

"What's with you?  Aren't you even excited about the Sabres game on Saturday?"

"No, not really."

In my mopey little way, I went through the dresser drawers to try to find something suitable to wear to the gym.

I'm generally not a materialistic person, and I am happy keeping things simple in life.  I don't want the bells or whistles on new gadgets and I am not keen about expensive jewelry; you get my drift.  In short, if it's something I don't absolutely need, out of practicality, I will not particularly want it.  When you think about it, a $400 piece of jewelry could be a month's worth of groceries.  But on this particular day, I received a gift that lifted my spirits immediately.

As I was changing into my gym shorts, my husband poked his head into the bedroom door and said, "Would you be more excited if you went to the game wearing this?"  He held up an authentic, vintage, Pat LaFontaine jersey!  I was giddy.  I wanted to be angry but I couldn't be.  LaFontaine has been my favorite hockey player since I was nine years old!  Sure, it probably cost a month's worth of groceries, but I didn't care.  I was suddenly that 9-year-old girl again - the girl who would have graciously accepted this gift and insisted on wearing it to school every day.  In fact, I almost wore it to work the next day... but thought that might be pushing it a little...  While it had a price and was maybe a possession I didn't need, per se, it was a gift from the heart to a little girl who had a favorite hockey player of all time.  It was a gift of sentiment that brought me back to my childhood.

So, yesterday I got dressed up for the Sabres game and St. Patrick's Day Eve - as happy as could be in my new attire!  We sat in our seats until my former assistant coach/friend Jenna sent me a text message asking if we could get together between periods.  Her boyfriend, Kevin, had four tickets for four seats in the 200-level that belong to his law firm.  Two of the tickets weren't being used, so we sat the rest of the game in the firm's seats! Kevin bought us all a beer, and we enjoyed some conversation between periods.  The Sabres lost, but we had a nice time.  We went straight to my parent's house for a pre-St. Patrick's day dinner.  My mom took some pics of me.  I can honestly say I  was as happy as I looked in the picture above!  As silly as it seems, this gift from my husband ended up being more meaningful than I ever thought it could have been. :-)