I Cheer For You
The Rangers came close to getting into the Stanley Cup Finals last season. I went to a few games with Mom and I took my fandom very seriously. I bought Rangers earrings and stickers. I wore a Rangers muscle tank. I wore your Rangers hat. I even bought blue lipstick.
I cheered like my life depended on it. I yelled and even cursed a little bit. I brought all of my energy to every game. I also brought all of your energy to every game. I did my best to stand in for you, to be you, to want those wins as badly as you wanted those wins.
One of the best ways I know to keep you alive is to stand in for you. I consider myself your representative everywhere I go. What would Dad say? What would Dad do? How would Dad react? Dad would yell at those people to sit down because they are blocking our view. Dad would be shocked by the 30 roadkill we counted on our trip down South. Dad would be so excited that there was Diet Root Beer at this BBQ restaurant.
Dad, it is so hard to balance missing you and representing you. Sometimes I just want to be sad that you are not here. I want to sit on my office couch and stare at your records I have hanging on my wall and wonder how I got robbed all of all of the fun things we had to left to do together.
Every time the Rangers won, I couldn’t believe the intensity in the full range of emotions. The more they won, the happier I was thinking they could win the Stanley Cup. But every time they won, I was so devastated that you were missing it. So which is better? If the Rangers lost, you wouldn’t be missing much. But if they won, you would miss the world.
No matter how hard it is to face the things you’ll miss, I’ll always choose the world you would want to live in. You wanted our wedding so badly and we still had it, even though you couldn’t be there. You wanted that Rangers Stanley Cup, so I’ll keep cheering every year until I die.
Dad, it is so hard to live in a world where you are missing so much, but I want to live in that world so I can see you, feel you, and bring you with me on this journey.
Let’s Go Rangers, 2022-2023!
