My 92-year-old, Viking-Rooting Aunt Taught Me All About Football
My 92-year-old, Viking-Rooting Aunt Taught Me All About Football And about the game of life
In the late summer of last year, my 92-year-old aunt fell and fractured her back. The injury resulted in sheer agony and many hospital stays before her doctors finally decided that surgery might be her best option.
After surgery, she was sent to a nursing home that provided rehabilitation services, with the hope that she’d soon be able to resume her independent life.
But once there, it became evident that the place couldn’t provide the level of care she needed. So my cousin and I made sure that one of us was always there to feed her, help her dress, and keep her spirits up.
Nursing homes are not a place to get better.
This particular home was woefully understaffed and forgetful. It makes my blood boil to remember how many times my aunt was completely ignored after requesting assistance for basic things like bathing and using the bathroom.
But they did have one thing that got both the patients and the staff up and running — great TV.
Specifically, they had every sports channel available, and at any given time, you could watch almost any sport your little heart desired.
In my aunt’s opinion, that made up for the lack of care.
As sometimes happens, the universe saw fit to put a whole bunch of dedicated Minnesota Vikings’ fans in my aunt’s wing of the nursing home. Don’t ask me how that happened in California, but all of these residents, including my aunt, never missed a Vikings game that fall.
When I asked her how she got so involved with that particular team, she answered, “Well, I really like their quarterback, Kirk Cousins. He’s such a nice young family man. He never plays dirty.”
She not only knew about Cousins, but she could tell me all the players names, the positions they played, their stats, and who was up for trade or not.
She could also dish about the Vikings’ head coach, Kevin O’Connell.
“Such a good-looking man. And he really knows how to talk to the players. He’ll do well as a coach.”