Thankfulness Challenge - Day 9

So I was planning for this post to come in a week or so but after yesterday’s game it’s the right time to show my Auburn Pride. The Auburn Family needs a pick me up after watching our miracle luck run out in epic horrible fashion. Auburn is not just a team, it’s not just football it’s really more a way of life. I was the 10^th in my family to graduate from Auburn University, and I hope my nephews will continue the tradition.

In elementary school we had a “career day” where we were supposed to come to school dressed up in what we wanted to be when we grew up. There were kids in doctor scrubs, kids in football and baseball uniforms, boys in their Sunday best as businessmen, girls dressed as teachers carrying around books, and even a few mommy’s walking around with dolls. As the teacher went around the class asking each kid to explain what they wanted to be she skipped over me. As a super awesome kid I just assumed she wanted to save the best for last. After the last kid went she started to move on to the next thing on her daily agenda. I raised my hand and asked why she skipped me. She said she assumed I had forgotten. I said but I didn’t. So she asked “Well what do you want to be?” I stood up next to my desk all tall and proud and said, “I want to be an Auburn student!” I was dressed from head to toe in Auburn gear. Auburn sweatpants, sweatshirt, bow in my hair and socks with a big AU on them. In my head that’s what students wore.

My mother grew up in Opelika which is located about 10 minutes from the campus of Auburn University. She met my father while he was a student there. I owe a lot to Auburn University, because if they hadn’t both been on the same path that day I wouldn’t be here. That’s not why I love Auburn tho. It’s just one of the many reasons that I love this University. On every day, not just Day 9, I’m thankful that I am an Auburn Tiger!

My dad has had season tickets since he graduated. It was his “splurge” that he never questioned. As a young kid going to spend the weekend in Auburn meant seeing my grandmother (who still lived in Opelika) and spending Saturdays playing football with other tailgating kids, eating food right off a fire, and cheering on the Auburn Tigers. I used to make it my mission to find Aubie. There is not a mascot on the planet who gives better hugs, better high fives, or just induces more smiles and giggles from its fans.

 

 

As a kid I could have cared less if Auburn won the ball game, which is good cause at that time we lost more than we won. There were no devastating looks on the faces of the Auburn Alumni and fans in those stands back in those days. Sure a win was appreciated but not as “expected” as it is now. Nope, for me the ball game was secondary to walking around the beautiful campus, seeing the spectacle that is an SEC game, watching the students make their way towards class as I walked around on a Friday afternoon with my dad, mom, and brother. Every single time Dad would point out the same buildings and his old apartment as we rode around campus then just as we left campus to head to my grandmothers would point to what is now a parking lot where he met my mom. Once the game was over dad would take our hands and walk us back to wherever we parked the car (no assigned parking back then it was every car for themselves). I could never figure out how he always remembered where the car was in rain, shine, or in the dead of night after a night game. We’d make our way back to my grandmother’s spend the night (or have dinner if it was a day game) then the next day would see aunts and cousins before making the trip back home to start our week again. Dad to work, us to school, that among many other memories is why I associate Auburn with family.

My grandmother and I getting ready to walk to the stadium

When it was time to apply to colleges, Auburn was the only one I applied to. I didn’t have a backup plan, I didn’t have a safety school. I didn’t need one. I was going to be an Auburn student and it was going to be awesome. My brother was at the University my freshman year, we overlapped by a semester and I was glad we did. He taught me a lot, provided me with a lot of my social interaction, and was a phone call away when I needed him. It was at Auburn that I met my sister from another mother, Golden and learned how to prioritize, be responsible, and manage money. It was at Auburn that I became more than just a student I became the person that I was destined to be. I was finally an Auburn Tiger and would eventually become an Auburn Alumni Lifetime member since 2001.

 

 

Auburn is more than a University, it’s more than a football team, it’s more than a W or a L on a schedule it’s a truly a way of life. Would I have liked to win yesterday, sure but let’s face it it’s been a great season with some epic moments, but our luck was bound to run out at some point. With a schedule as challenging as ours was honestly it ran out a lot later than I would have thought. Another epic last minute win would have been great, however the pressure is now off and we can finish out this tough season strong and go into these final games without that “playoff” monkey on our back. I for one am looking forward to watching a ball game sober, to not having a 4^th quarter heart attack, and to not gaining more grey hair based on what Nick Marshall and his offense does or does not do on the field.

So until next season Auburn Family stay strong. Wear your Auburn Orange with pride, be true Blue and keep your head up. Auburn’s been down before but we aren’t out we’ll finish the season strong and it will make next season even better because let’s face it if you are in the hunt year in and out you come to expect it and stop appreciating it as much.

WAR EAGLE!!!!!

-marcy (@beaslma)