Forgot to mention, on a somber note, my mother, a HUGE Steelers fan (and she really knows & understands football...she's not a fake) also, suffered a stroke in August. She was lucky, and didn't suffer any paralysis, though she was weaker & had trouble thinking clearly (finding the right words) at times, but she recovered pretty good.

Then, on November 22 (same day Kennedy was killed ironically), right before being discharged (a few hours before) from the hospital following surgery to clear the blockage in her carotid artery that caused the stroke, she suffered another stroke (though now they think it may have been an extension of the stroke she suffered in August). Again she was lucky enough not to suffer any paralysis, she gets around pretty good (sometimes with a walker now) and she has recovered pretty good, & is back to about where she was when she went in for the operation. Of course, since my brother lives farther away, and my mom didn't want to move out of the area, my wife and I have taken her in until she is recovered enough to fully take care of herself & live on her own (my dad died 15 years ago).

I'm not an overly emotional or religious person. I usually keep my emotions in check (though I am very passionate about things), and I don't wear my religious beliefs on my sleeves, and you won't ever see me praying that my team wins a sporting event like so many do (I figure, if there is a God, I would hope he has much more important things to deal with than to be bothered with the outcome of a game). But let me tell you, it was hard to beat the feeling I got to see my mother right there in the middle of my Super Bowl party & to actually see her get animated, do some serious cheering like she used to do (following her strokes, she really didn't get animated anymore), and swear like a drunken sailor when things weren't going the Steelers way (or when they showed close-ups of the Cardinals for that matter).

I just knew that my mother wouldn't have been spared only to have our Steelers lose this seasons Super Bowl, much less lose the way they damn near did. I'm glad I wasn't wrong!

The road to 7 begins today!

Now to find some lawyer that is still taking lawsuits against the manufacturers of Celebrex (my mom took it for about 10 years before the stroke, and given her health before....that is the only thing that I can think of that caused it)!