Well Peter Rabbit visited us for Easter. On Thursday we got the surprising news that daughter #2 and SIL will be having a healthy baby boy! No, no Flopsie or Mopsie to outnumber the guys in our household. So it’s official, after years of girls outnumbering the guys, then the girls and guys running neck in neck, we will be +1 boy, outnumbering the Sullins girls. So what has this got to do with the title of today’s post?
Well, Peg had this short story contest and the prize was a beautiful green jacket. Congratulations to Darla at She’s a Maineiac who won. As things work out, we both got our prizes (I’ll be a grandma again…Darla got her well-deserved jacket) and life goes on.
Below you’ll find my entry. In fact I have tweaked it a bit as it’s now become 33% fiction and 67% fact. You know, art reflects life and life reflects art. If you haven’t read it, I’ll let you discern the fact from fiction. Anyway, I thought I would go ahead and share it with you. Read on.
“I met this hockey fan when I got caught speeding,” I explained to my bff.
“Say what?” bff asked.
“All of a sudden I saw these cherry lights in my rear view mirror. I pulled my ear buds out and then I heard it. His siren. Uh-oh.”
“Miss” he said, “Do you have any idea how fast you’re going?”
“Oh dear, officer. I’m sorry. I’m on my way to a hockey game and I don’t want to miss the face off. I’m new on the job and my boss bought us all tickets.”
“Hockey…huh?…you do need to be careful. Can’t take the roads like those hockey players take the ice.”
“Yes, officer, I’m sorry.”
“Who’s playing? …uh…Tom What-cha-ma-callit with the Dallas Stars.”
“Who? Oh you mean Tom Wojciechowski?”
“Yes, that’s it. His name is Tom Wha-cha-cha-cha-ski.”
“Tom Wojciechowski,” he pronounced his name again slowly. “Here…let me write it down for you.”
He wrote it down and handed me this little slip of paper. I put that piece of paper in the pocket of my Aileen green blazer. I’d bought it because it had the colors of the Dallas Stars…green, gold and some red… and, because I knew that the guy with the dreamy blue eyes whose office was down the hall would be there.
“Dangerous game hockey. Dangerous as a car speeding. But Tom Wojciechowski plays fair. No checking from behind or boarding. That’d get a five-minute major in the penalty box. Here’s your speeding ticket.”
“I was glad I had brought kleenex. I wanted to cry. This new job was costing me.”
“Oh, may I ask a favor? You can text me at this number…let me know if our man scores.”
“Dressed in my colors so ‘you know who’ would notice me I got to the game. The puck went flying. Ostoski took control and then Wojciechowski took possession. Then, he hurled the puck into the net right past the goalie.”
“Who was that?” a girl from the office asked.
“Tom Wojciechowski,” I answered.
My boss was impressed. I hadn’t butchered his name.
Right in front of us as we sat behind the glass, Ostoski checked Wojciechowski from behind.
I jumped up yelling “Five minute penalty!”
Again my boss looked at me impressed.
Unimpressed my bff asked me, “Did ‘what’s his name with the blue eyes’ ever talk to you?”
“No, he brought a date and was totally into her green eyes. hmmmm….I think I’m going to take that jacket back. I got this speeding ticket…and then I broke my foot.”
“You broke your foot at the hockey game?”
“I broke it as I was leaving. I texted this hockey fan that Tom had scored three times and Dallas had won 3-0. I never saw the stairs in front of me.”
So the three Sullins girls press on. Daughter #2 will become a mama soon. I look forward to becoming a grandma for a second time. And, I will continue writing on this blog about things I know and other things I have experienced, that have left their mark in the recesses of my memory…like watching Gordie Howe play hockey at Cobo Hall in Detroit. How exciting it was to see him play in Houston with the Houston Hurricane hockey team soon after I graduated from MSU and returned back to Houston. Michigan had followed me back home. And, daughter #1 continues to be a fan of her CA lifestyle seeking out her hat-trick.*
*A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. (Wikipedia)
i’d have skipped the guy from the office and totally dated the cop. 🙂
That’s what I told my daughter.
and congrats!
Thank you. It’ll be fun shopping for all things blue and go vroooom.
And did you know Gordie Howe is from my home city of Saskatoon? 🙂
Fun post! Congratulations to you!!
MJ
Then of course, you know who Gordie Howe is! I did not know he was from a town named Saskatoon. Now I know it’s the home of Gordie and our friend MJ. Thank you for sharing.
I thought long and hard about making this my Easter post. But in the end, I still thought it fitting that on this day, write what is on this mother’s heart.
Well, look at you, Georgette! A young woman raised in Mexico loving hockey. How did that ever happen?
I was hoping the speeding ticket was merely a note that said, “Slow down. Next time it will cost!”
You certainly impressed me with your enthusiasm and with your ability to pull out signs of knowing what you are talking about…like hat trick! I can’t match you even though I’ve sat on many hard frozen seats drooling over some guy on the ice!
Smooth sailing…getting a hat trick…are just a mother’s wish and prayer for her daughters this Easter.
I understand, but I’m still impressed with the “underpainting”.
🙂 Thank you, souldipper.
Loved it!!
haha…thank you for reading.
This was a fun read. I was a little disappointed with the cop, though, who still gave «you» a speeding ticket. Congratulations with the hat-trick. Since I am a football – I mean soccer – fan I even knew what that was beforehand.
You’re good munchow. I guess you discerned sometimes life gives you the opposite of a hat trick, so I had to give her a speeding ticket on top of everything else. Glad you enjoyed it.
Good story. Are you sure some of it is fiction? lol
It’s called family life, too. 🙂
I asked my son one day after his skating practice if he wants to play Hockey. He was watching with all eagerness boys his age playing the exciting game as if he wants to play too. Perhaps we’ll give it a try soon. Love the exciting story . There’s fun, humor and lot of heart. Happy Easter my friend.
Oh this is the time to learn to skate. How great he is learning. If he doesn’t play hockey you can take him to an Aeros game.
Congratulations, Georgette! Here’s to the boys. (smile) And, I liked your Green Jacket entry – new tweaks and all. I love a mixture of truth and fiction.
The story kind of stopped and then it kept growing and changing in my mind. Thank you for reading version 2…or, will it become the story that never ends? I think I will finally let go of it now.
Boys!!! It will be fun.
Great story, Georgette. And congrats again, Grandma! That so exciting to have a new little grandson on the way.
Thank you, Darla. No sooner did I tell Peg I was bummed with no ideas, than this came out for the contest. And then as family life has evolved around our household it became this version.
We are excited to bring another grandson on board…two…I know some people have tons…my grandmother had 25, my mother has 11…I hope I can enjoy and love each one that comes our way as if they were the only one.
Georgette — I’m so glad you included your jacket story! What a fun read. Very creative, to use the colors to represent a sports team. That’s nice that in real life, you do have such fond memories of sporting events. They have a way to stay with us — those special days.
And speaking of special — Congratulations on your newest grandbaby! A little boy. So precious! I am very happy for you, and sending lots of good wishes your way. I’m sure when he is here, your heart will overflow. Your last line in the comment to Darla shows what a loving grandmother you already are.
Well, after the hub-bub of the contest, I thought I would go ahead and post it on my site. But then my mind kept tweaking it. Thank you for reading. Yes, I loved the “new” sport of hockey for me when I was going to school there. I still remember watching the Red Wings play against the Chicago Black Hawks with Bobby Hull, Tony Esposito. Fun times, yes. I was so glad I knew something about it when the American Olympic team won over the Soviets back in the day.
Congratulations Georgette. How exciting to be planning for this newest Sullins member.
Funny, with each new baby, one can’t imagine life before them. This one will be the same and I can’t wait.
Of course this is a perfect Easter-season post – Easter is the promise of new life – in all its forms! Congratulations to you and your family. It will be such fun to follow all the goings-on.
I enjoyed the story, too, even though I just don’t “get” hockey. Of course, I don’t “get” baseball or basketball, either. Sigh. I have heard that, like baseball, hockey is much better enjoyed in person, so I’ll not render a final judgment!
Thank you, Linda for reading both…our news and the story. The hat trick, my wish, is that all three of us girls achieve our goals.
I enjoyed your green jacket story and am glad you shared it with us.
Congratulations on another grand baby! I have heard that there is nothing quite as special as a grandchild. Your grandmother had 25 grandchildren? Wow imagine what joy you all brought her.
Thank you for reading the jacket story. It just came out in a “family life” sort of way. Yes, my grandmother had 5 children and each one of them had 4-6 children = 25 grandchildren for her. She traveled a lot to visit them.
Georgette – why didn’t you get that cop’s name. Congratulations on the Easter news.
Judith, thank you for reading my story. Do you all have hockey in NZ? haha It’s interesting you picked up on that detail, one I gave some thought to. The requirements for the short story contest were to write about Tom W, the green jacket, a slip of paper and a kleenex. So I tried to keep the focus on the hockey player’s name. By adding the “May I ask you favor…please text me…” the results of the game, I hoped the exchange of info, would be understood and not detract from TW. Yes, I did give that some thought…but since daughter #2 (and this story reflects some family life) is still single, a Mr. Right still remains nameless…the policeman just represents the good guys who come in and out of her life…
Still waiting on news about Andy. Hope today is the day.