After getting to the football game last night 2 hours before game time, we had the opportunity to enjoy the surroundings and experience of a college Celebrating their game opener with ALL the festivities! With the weather being 94 degrees at 6pm and feeling like 100% humidity, I heard many people complaining about the HOT STICKY weather, the crowds, and the price for parking! THEN, out of nowhere a MONSOON type rainstorm came down on ALL of us... soaking EVERY fan and student in sight! The Marching Band played in the street in the pouring down rain, and vendors saw many of their customers run for whatever cover they could find! THEN, the LIGHTENING began! The college security would NOT allow Anyone into the stadium for safety reasons, so some stayed in line and got completely SOAKED, while others ran into nearby hotels and restaurants hoping to escape the rain which seemed to last for HOURS! With 40,000 fans waiting for the game to start and gates to open at 7:30.... .......NOW I heard vendors complaining about lost revenue, fans complaining about the rain instead of the hot sun, and whatever else people could complain about! The University officials kept pushing the gate opening time to a later time because EVERY time lightening appeared and they determined it was within an 8 mile radius of the stadium...the game was delayed along with allowing fans through the gates into the stadium ALL for safety reasons! They eventually cancelled the Pre Game Parade for all the Young Children dressed in their various football uniforms who were supposed to participate, the anticipation of the gates opening kept getting pushed back EVERY time lightening lit up the sky, and rain continued to fall in different capacities....AND Many fans left! The gates FINALLY opened close to 10 pm...almost 3 hours later!!! The GAME started over 2 hours late AND Many of the vendors closed up and went home calling the night a loss and even though Vanderbilt got creamed by Temple, and we ended up leaving after midnight (Aiden was feeling the LONG night and he was an awesome trooper with his wet clothes, waiting, and everything else going on!) ....I WANT to SUM UP the NIGHT BELOW after Giving YOU ALL a Glimpse ABOVE of what EVERYONE went through YET what DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES were CREATED!!!! FIRST, WE were GRATEFUL and BLESSED that we were given the Opportunity to attend this SPECIAL night! We were ABLE to go and spend Quality and Quantity time with Family and some very special Friends and WARRIOR Families! Although the night did not go as many had planned....it went EXACTLY as GOD had PLANNED! I BELIEVE We had MORE time to BOND and have Fellowship with the people we were with, we got to experience the LIFE of College students before the BIG GAME, we saw the Marching Band put on a great performance even though the weather was far from ideal, we GOT to pay for parking and park close and convenient to the stadium, the crowds were an Experience for us all to see different types of people having their own type of FUN, the surrounding restaurants and hotels got to be BLESSED by REVENUE that they would not have received had the rain not fallen and the game being delayed...PLUS it allowed us the chance to feed Aiden who was starving by not having food going on 2 hours, the lightening was pretty and reminded us of the night of Patricks Celebration of Life, the stadium staff was accommodating and kept us updated as best they could, and although we and our GUESTS were drenched from head to toe...we saw the kids who were supposed to march in the pre game parade that got cancelled...AND they were SMILING and STILL having a GOOD time playing in the rain ...while many of their Parents were the ones who were complaining and upset! Half the stadium was empty... yet HALF the stadium was FULL, we enjoyed the time we had there even though we did not stay until the game ended at 1:15am, the vendors that went home early allowed us the time to patronize the ones who STAYED, AND I had some QUALITY CONVERSATIONS with some of the vendors and staff about LIFE and PATRICKS EVERDAY WARRIORS.... and as a BONUS....made some new WARRIOR FRIENDS and was able to SHARE about HOW we are LOVING on KIDS and Families on the Journey of childhood cancer! I KNOW these vendors and NEW WARRIOR FRIENDS WILL be BLEESED in the FUTURE for staying OPEN, and I FEEL BLEESED for what GOD has in store for us! Paying it FORWARD for Patricks Everyday Warriors and ALL WARRIORS. The NIGHT went EXACTLY as GOD had PLANNED, and EVERYONE we had with us was SMILING and LAUGHING and just ENJOYING LIFE with each other! PLUS...after EVERYTHING our FAMILY has been through these past 2 years.....in the GRAND SCHEME of things.....LAST NIGHT was PERFECT!
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 15:15:07 +0000
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