Rangers Playoffs

My Dad was the proud owner of New York Rangers season tickets. When he died, my Mom and I made the decision to keep the tickets. My Mom had become a Rangers superfan over the past decade and I was open to increasing my annual game count to more than 1. 

For the 2021-2022 season, the Rangers made it to the playoffs, with each round hosting a minimum of 2 games at home. I remember playoffs past when my parents were impossible to make plans with, each invite acceptance caveated with “unless there is a playoff game.” This season, I became that person who was owned by the playoff schedule, changing into Rangers gear before my last meeting of the day so I could hop on the train, taking calls from the Penn Station food hall waiting for my Mom to arrive, and sneakily checking the score on my phone while at the latest Marvel movie.

The Rangers did not win the cup this year but we still had the most fun cheering them on at the Garden. My Dad would be so happy to see us all decked out in Rangers gear for weeks on end, high-fiving with his seatmates, yelling at the players to shoot the effing puck and snap selfies while wearing blue lipstick. Dad, it can be hard to live my own life and stand in for yours, but your life was so great that it is a privilege to walk in your shoes.