The good news is a specialty OSU Buckeye birthday card arrived in the mail, so I'm sending it to Christy's father for his birthday. I'm posting below the 2 page letter I'm including with the card. I'm still torn on whether to include the story of the OSU-UM betting card. Do you think it might upset him, or will he laugh at it? I wrote it for laughs, but humor is tricky. Also, a picture of Brutus Buckeye doesn't paste well in substack, but he appears in the letter. I have some boldface and italics as well in the printed letter.
Dear
Happy Birthday from Brutus and all of Buckeye country! May this be a day full of love from your family and warm cheers from friends. Okay, I need to confess something. Growing up a Hoosier, I rooted for hometown schools IU in basketball and Notre Dame in football. On Sep. 23rd I pulled up that game in my UD office, watching as I caught up on paperwork. I confess: I was fine with either team winning, I just wanted a good, close game! I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for not fully rooting for The OSU. ☹
Something I learned from Christy was how much you were a diehard fan! What can I say about Christy, but that buckeye didn’t fall far from the tree. The way she talked about Art Schlichter her freshman year, she might have had a crush on him. On Saturday afternoons we often scanned ESPN for sports scores, she loved it when her beloved Bucks won. A good girl, the only time she used profanity was about her illness or that team up North: I thought their initials might be FM! 😱
Fun Fact: I introduced Christy to my good friend Adair Ade, the great-niece of George Ade, famed author for whom Purdue’s Ross-Ade stadium is named. I told her he wrote “The Football Widow”, Christy said it reminded her of her Mom. In her last letter she shared her Mom seemed morose, consigned to accept her two baby birds soon leaving the nest, leaving her alone with you, her little brother, and Ohio State Football! During Christy’s junior year I rotated through the water company union jobs for my management development program. The water company union prez, George Crowe knew my Dad (IBEW union prez), so he looked after me. He also distributed football betting cards weekly. He advised me to ingratiate myself with the boys by gambling. When I won, I treated the boys during morning break time. I had a memorable run, cashing 9 out of 13 weeks. I completed my betting card the week of Nov 15th. Christy studied it, expressing dismay I had not taken her beloved Bucks at Wisconsin. I told her winning on the road was a risky bet! She ordered me to bet the game, so I added it to my 3 already that week. When my card won, she happily declared she was treating me to Ivanhoes to celebrate! When we placed our orders she declared she was paying via her winnings, since she picked OSU! She laughed, I paid, we enjoyed our treat. Please know Christy was very generous and thoughtful. But she enjoyed pranking me, where offering to pay at Ivanhoes was like Lucy pulling the football from Charlie Brown. 🤦♂️ The best part for me? 3-4 times after OSU won, she sang her shorter version of the Ohio State drinking song. The happiness made her think of you. She’d put her hand on my shoulder, leaning so her hip jutted out (“sashaying her hip”), then nodding her head as if she was just a little tipsy. With a wink & smile she’d begin singing
“I wanna go back, Oh!
I wanna go back Oh-Hi-Oh!
And we’ll drink a little booze
‘til we wobble in our shoes!
I wanna go back to Oh-Hi-Oh”! (she then raised her arm in the air as if holding a pom-pom).
The last time she sang it was after that Wisconsin victory. When she finished, she giggled, giving me a quick peck on the cheek before we left for Ivanhoes. How could a fella not fall for a gal like that?
The following week was “The Game”. I’d been double dog dared by my union boys to roll over my $20 with a pick 6 (it could win $500). I made my 6 picks, but because UM was a “pick’em” game, I steered clear of it. Christy saw my misdeed, becoming very annoyed. “Bawk-bawk, chicken”! “A coward dies a thousand deaths, a hero dies just one: I like the coward’s odds”! Placing her hand on my shoulder she repeated a joke I had told her about my ex-gf Julie demanding I taker her to see Air Supply: if I didn’t bet her Bucks then she’d never sleep with me! 😱 Reminder: Christy was perfectly behaved, we never did anything sinful. This was her using humor to be thoughtful and supportive of me, of us. There’s a longer story there about being supportive, perhaps I can share it next year.
“Ummmm, aren’t the odds of you sleeping with me already zero”? “Not zero! The odds of my sleeping with you live in the same city as zero, they live on the same street, in the same dormitory, same floor, they even share a room & bunkbeds with zero! But not zero”. Christy paused, smiling “Someday after an Ohio State victory, I may be so happy the odds I’d ever consider sleeping with you might plummet from a billion to 1 all the way down to a million to 1. But when I remember you didn’t take Ohio State it’ll skyrocket all the way to a trillion to 1! Have I made myself clear”? Told ya it was epic! 😊 “Message delivered, loud and clear. So loud my dead relatives in Gaston could hear it” I marked my 7th choice, OSU over UM. I then added “I rolled over last week’s winnings, so I’m playing with house money. If I hit this week, my union president is gonna owe me $700. He might order me killed rather than pay up; if he does then you have to send a nice flower bouquet”! Christy roared laughing, promising me a bouquet of flowers plus a plate of cookies at Wesley to remember me by. BTW, George had good character, I knew she wasn’t gonna have to buy me flowers!
I hit on my 6 original games. Sadly, as you recall, Matt Frantz missed a last minute 45 yard FG attempt that would have given them the win, & me $700. Adding “The Game” cost me $500. Oh well, house money, easy come, easy go. I don’t gamble now, other than the 50/50 raffles at Eaton games. Did I bring up “The Game” with Christy? Do I look stupid to you? Our next day together, I studiously avoided all football talk. Finally she glared at me, remarking “Don’t say a word about your gambling losses, not a word! Apparently she thought I did look stupid. 😉 I can’t blame her for that! 🤦♂️ But I didn’t bring it up with her: I knew it would take a little time for her to joke about it.
My final story from that fall came when we talked about relationships in general. Driving back from Greenfield (Cathy needed the k-car to come home that weekend), she shared how she admired you and your wife’s marriage, how loving were you two. She told me you two set the standard of what she expected in her future husband and marriage. She knew girls at school who were willing to settle for less; she wasn’t gonna settle for less than what you two had shown her. She greatly loved, adored, and respected you. Happy Birthday, you deserve it.
We're back to the apartment for the evening. I'm relieved to have survived our last excursion with Mom driving.
G'morning all!
The good news is a specialty OSU Buckeye birthday card arrived in the mail, so I'm sending it to Christy's father for his birthday. I'm posting below the 2 page letter I'm including with the card. I'm still torn on whether to include the story of the OSU-UM betting card. Do you think it might upset him, or will he laugh at it? I wrote it for laughs, but humor is tricky. Also, a picture of Brutus Buckeye doesn't paste well in substack, but he appears in the letter. I have some boldface and italics as well in the printed letter.
Dear
Happy Birthday from Brutus and all of Buckeye country! May this be a day full of love from your family and warm cheers from friends. Okay, I need to confess something. Growing up a Hoosier, I rooted for hometown schools IU in basketball and Notre Dame in football. On Sep. 23rd I pulled up that game in my UD office, watching as I caught up on paperwork. I confess: I was fine with either team winning, I just wanted a good, close game! I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for not fully rooting for The OSU. ☹
Something I learned from Christy was how much you were a diehard fan! What can I say about Christy, but that buckeye didn’t fall far from the tree. The way she talked about Art Schlichter her freshman year, she might have had a crush on him. On Saturday afternoons we often scanned ESPN for sports scores, she loved it when her beloved Bucks won. A good girl, the only time she used profanity was about her illness or that team up North: I thought their initials might be FM! 😱
Fun Fact: I introduced Christy to my good friend Adair Ade, the great-niece of George Ade, famed author for whom Purdue’s Ross-Ade stadium is named. I told her he wrote “The Football Widow”, Christy said it reminded her of her Mom. In her last letter she shared her Mom seemed morose, consigned to accept her two baby birds soon leaving the nest, leaving her alone with you, her little brother, and Ohio State Football! During Christy’s junior year I rotated through the water company union jobs for my management development program. The water company union prez, George Crowe knew my Dad (IBEW union prez), so he looked after me. He also distributed football betting cards weekly. He advised me to ingratiate myself with the boys by gambling. When I won, I treated the boys during morning break time. I had a memorable run, cashing 9 out of 13 weeks. I completed my betting card the week of Nov 15th. Christy studied it, expressing dismay I had not taken her beloved Bucks at Wisconsin. I told her winning on the road was a risky bet! She ordered me to bet the game, so I added it to my 3 already that week. When my card won, she happily declared she was treating me to Ivanhoes to celebrate! When we placed our orders she declared she was paying via her winnings, since she picked OSU! She laughed, I paid, we enjoyed our treat. Please know Christy was very generous and thoughtful. But she enjoyed pranking me, where offering to pay at Ivanhoes was like Lucy pulling the football from Charlie Brown. 🤦♂️ The best part for me? 3-4 times after OSU won, she sang her shorter version of the Ohio State drinking song. The happiness made her think of you. She’d put her hand on my shoulder, leaning so her hip jutted out (“sashaying her hip”), then nodding her head as if she was just a little tipsy. With a wink & smile she’d begin singing
“I wanna go back, Oh!
I wanna go back Oh-Hi-Oh!
And we’ll drink a little booze
‘til we wobble in our shoes!
I wanna go back to Oh-Hi-Oh”! (she then raised her arm in the air as if holding a pom-pom).
The last time she sang it was after that Wisconsin victory. When she finished, she giggled, giving me a quick peck on the cheek before we left for Ivanhoes. How could a fella not fall for a gal like that?
The following week was “The Game”. I’d been double dog dared by my union boys to roll over my $20 with a pick 6 (it could win $500). I made my 6 picks, but because UM was a “pick’em” game, I steered clear of it. Christy saw my misdeed, becoming very annoyed. “Bawk-bawk, chicken”! “A coward dies a thousand deaths, a hero dies just one: I like the coward’s odds”! Placing her hand on my shoulder she repeated a joke I had told her about my ex-gf Julie demanding I taker her to see Air Supply: if I didn’t bet her Bucks then she’d never sleep with me! 😱 Reminder: Christy was perfectly behaved, we never did anything sinful. This was her using humor to be thoughtful and supportive of me, of us. There’s a longer story there about being supportive, perhaps I can share it next year.
“Ummmm, aren’t the odds of you sleeping with me already zero”? “Not zero! The odds of my sleeping with you live in the same city as zero, they live on the same street, in the same dormitory, same floor, they even share a room & bunkbeds with zero! But not zero”. Christy paused, smiling “Someday after an Ohio State victory, I may be so happy the odds I’d ever consider sleeping with you might plummet from a billion to 1 all the way down to a million to 1. But when I remember you didn’t take Ohio State it’ll skyrocket all the way to a trillion to 1! Have I made myself clear”? Told ya it was epic! 😊 “Message delivered, loud and clear. So loud my dead relatives in Gaston could hear it” I marked my 7th choice, OSU over UM. I then added “I rolled over last week’s winnings, so I’m playing with house money. If I hit this week, my union president is gonna owe me $700. He might order me killed rather than pay up; if he does then you have to send a nice flower bouquet”! Christy roared laughing, promising me a bouquet of flowers plus a plate of cookies at Wesley to remember me by. BTW, George had good character, I knew she wasn’t gonna have to buy me flowers!
I hit on my 6 original games. Sadly, as you recall, Matt Frantz missed a last minute 45 yard FG attempt that would have given them the win, & me $700. Adding “The Game” cost me $500. Oh well, house money, easy come, easy go. I don’t gamble now, other than the 50/50 raffles at Eaton games. Did I bring up “The Game” with Christy? Do I look stupid to you? Our next day together, I studiously avoided all football talk. Finally she glared at me, remarking “Don’t say a word about your gambling losses, not a word! Apparently she thought I did look stupid. 😉 I can’t blame her for that! 🤦♂️ But I didn’t bring it up with her: I knew it would take a little time for her to joke about it.
My final story from that fall came when we talked about relationships in general. Driving back from Greenfield (Cathy needed the k-car to come home that weekend), she shared how she admired you and your wife’s marriage, how loving were you two. She told me you two set the standard of what she expected in her future husband and marriage. She knew girls at school who were willing to settle for less; she wasn’t gonna settle for less than what you two had shown her. She greatly loved, adored, and respected you. Happy Birthday, you deserve it.
Peace,