My husband’s beloved Seattle Seahawks played the Arizona Cardinals yesterday. As we watched the game all I kept thinking about was the relationship between the Cardinals’ Larry Fitzgerald and the recently passed Senator John McCain. Dear husband, I was, of course, intensely focused on the game as well. In case you don’t know, the wide receiver and the statesman were good friends; a fact many of us only learned when Senator McCain lost his battle with that bastard cancer. The All-Pro spoke at one of the senator’s memorial services and through his heartfelt tribute we could see the genuine love between the two men. This was no celebrity publicity relationship.
Here I was, a fifty-something woman in Pennsylvania watching a football game on a finally-feeling-like-fall day, rooting for not the Eagles but a Washington state team, thinking about the Arizona Cardinal and the Arizona politician. The people we connect with in life are not always explainable. Like falling in love, someone’s soul speaks to our own, and the result is a bond that, if nurtured, will grow wings and fly.
These links that we share with one another have a ripple effect. I will never hear the name “Larry Fitzgerald” and not think of John McCain. Click here for Larry’s eulogy and to hear him describe the differences between him and his dear friend. Unlikely painting? We should all be so lucky.
By the way, the Seahawks won. I’m sure the late senator was watching and sent the future Hall of Famer a missive. I can guess what it might have said but one thing I know for sure: the wide receiver received the message. When it comes to a strong bond between two people, death loses every time.
