As we planned our return to Tucson in December, Bonnie wondered if there was any way she could orchestrate a baby shower for Ariana, the expectant wife of her nephew Matthew Holt. But there appeared to no way to accomplish before or after our AZ winter season.
So she became resigned to the fact it couldn’t be done and maybe she would be invited to join a family baby shower in Phoenix while we were in AZ. Unfortunately time didn’t permit her to offer that idea to the family until this past Friday when a call was made to her brother Kevin in Phoenix. Aside from the exchanged pleasantries Bonnie asked about baby shower plans that might be in the works.
What she heard next nearly left her speechless….a baby shower was planned for the next day, Saturday, at Ari’s Mom’s home in Phoenix. After a quick apology Kevin suggested Bonnie try to come and join in. The problem for us was that we had tickets for the TSO that Saturday evening and the shower was planned for 4p.m. What to do? A follow-up chat between the two of us found we both favored making changes in our Saturday plans and attending the shower.
We were able to exchange our TSO tickets for the Sunday afternoon concert at 2 pm. Of course, this conflicted with the Packer vs. Bears championship football game scheduled for the same day and time. But the decision we made put family first, as it should be.
The ride to Phoenix on Saturday gave us time to visit Kevin’s flower shop, Fresh Cut Romance, lunch with Kevin and his close friend Elaine as well as the baby shower, all very enjoyable.
Ari’s Mom is a real class act, very warm and friendly, as is Ari, of course. We had visited her home once before during the wedding weekend in November 2009 for the gift opening. It is a lovely home with tasteful paintings and a spacious patio. The aroma of Italian sausage met us as we entered the home. We met Ari’s aunts, grandmothers, and cousins many of whom remembered us from the wedding weekend. We felt very much welcomed and at home.
As we returned to Tucson that evening we talked at length about how fortunate we were that Bonnie had made that phone call to her brother on Friday and how welcome we felt. It was truly a worthwhile effort we had made.
On Sunday we headed for the Tucson Music Hall to hear the symphony Pops concert. It was the original Wizard of Oz movie and the orchestra played the musical score. It was very enjoyable. We listened to the beginning of the Packer game on the car radio. We followed the score before the start of the concert and during the intermission. We knew that the Pack had scored on their opening drive and that there wasn’t much scoring until the fourth quarter.
People around us picked up on our talk and asked about the score…Packer fans smiled and Bear fans frowned. The fellow in front of us showed his Packer tie. As the concert ended and we filed out we tried to catch the ESPN game report quickly, but you can’t speed that along faster than it gave the missed game information. By the time we got to the car and tuned in the radio we knew that game was over and the Packers were the champs of the NFC. Oh boy, that was such a high moment. As the game summary ensued on our ride home on I-10 we began to realize how close the 14-0 game had become during the fourth quarter. Since we hadn’t suffered through it like our family and friends we couldn’t feel the same awesome relief and joy, but we did have joy in our hearts, that is for sure. A couple of phone calls home to sons Jeff and Dave Wunrow brought us the realization that the fourth quarter was nearly heart-stopping, relieved only by the two interceptions, Raji’s and William’s. And who was this unknown quarterback for the Bears and what was he doing in the game at such a critical moment?
Our plan was to watch the game after six with Dave and Cheryl Mueller (Dave worked at Walgreens until 6pm). We watched the high definition TV closely to see the highlights we had only heard about on the radio. Gradually the thrill of the win was sinking in.
The Packers were indeed the NFC champs in a thrilling come from behind run of five end-of-the-season and playoff games! And we were up to speed and ready for the Superbowl .
Bring on the Steelers!
