A Home isn't a Home Until it's seen a Football Season

Shortly before I met my husband, I had come to the realization that I hated football. I had no use for it whatsoever. Then I met Sal. I had two choices when I met him...accept football, or give up the relationship altogether. Well, I suppose there was a third choice, but a lifetime of resentment wasn't appealing. I'm glad I kept Sal. I can live with football. And now the year is defined by our lazy Sundays where he camps out on the couch and we indulge in pizza.

Fall has always been my favorite season. We were married in the Fall, and maybe that's why Fall feels like home to me. It was in the Fall that we first became a family.

We moved into a new apartment in March and it's never quite seemed like home. I had thought that part of that was that everything was new and different, with the arrival of the baby and adjusting to parenthood; I felt insecure and vulnerable in my new surroundings with my new job. During that time I had this odd sense that fall was just around the corner, even though it was only May when Luke arrived. The weather wasn't particularly fall-ish, and so the only thing I can figure is that it was Divine Encouragement that fall and comfort and a sense of home and, normalcy, and, well, football, were coming eventually.

I still don't love football itself; but I don't loathe it either. And I welcome the feeling it brings...of cool weather, relaxing Sundays, the holidays approaching. When I lived back east I enjoyed fall trips to Amish country. For some reason it just felt right to go there in the fall and buy homemade jams for stocking stuffers. Now I associate that cozy, safe feeling with football and even though it means I lose a large portion of my husband's attention to games and blogs, I welcome the feeling it brings. His passion for the game is fun to watch...most of the time. I guess we're a Fall family. I love the holidays and the weather and he loves the game that defines the season. Of course we live in an area that has one season, but luckily the mountains are only a daytrip away, and the remote is even closer.