West Side Stories
A Tosa resident for almost 20 years, Karen is a mom and freelance writer, addicted to playing tennis. When not on the tennis court, she spends the fall and winter in the stands at Green Bay Packer and Marquette basketball games.
Karen is the author of “Grab a Bite,” a dining out column and the former community columnist for the Wauwatosa NOW newspaper.
Our Unexpected Angel
Saturday night, as I stood there at Lambeau Field and watched a magical, mythical snowstorm swirl while an unlikely Packer team came from behind to destroy their opponent, I had one thought: “Thank you, Andrew. This was so much fun.”
Allow me to share a story with you.
As many of you know, we lost our son Andrew nearly a year ago. Andrew was born severely developmentally disabled more than 21 years ago. He lived to defy odds and teach us a bounty of lessons. Today, we firmly believe he is in a better place, watching over all of us.
At one of the memorial services for Andrew, one of his caregivers at Central Wisconsin Center, Roseann, approached me and said: “You know, Andy is now up there watching over the Packers.” I chuckled, agreed with her and didn’t give it a further thought, knowing that the Packers’ prospects for the 2007 season were dim at best.
But Roseann knew something. She was the one that dressed him in one of his many Packer outfits on game day. She knew that Andrew came from a family of die-hard Packer fans. She was one of the few who understood our obsession.
After the first Packer-Viking game on September 30th, the one in which Brett Favre set an NFL record and the team rallied to win in the final seconds, a letter arrived at our house. It was from Roseann. It said: “Remember I said that Andy would be helping the Packers win.” I showed the letter to my husband and I think we both got a little misty-eyed.
So on Saturday night, as we stood in that virtual Green Bay snow globe, watching one of the most amazing football games I will ever see, it suddenly seemed entirely possible that Andrew, our angel, gave us another very special and unexpected gift.
Thanks buddy. God bless. We love you.
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