Today is the Grey Cup football game- the final chapter in the 2024 Canadian football season. As expected, the Edmonton Elks (although grammatically correct, insert Dad wince here. Our family would have preferred Edmonton Elk when they were renamed from Eskimos a few years ago…) are nowhere to be found, but our family is still represented. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers made it to the final.
Dad was born in Winnipeg, and Winnipeg was where Mom and Dad met in University. My Dad still had my Grandpa’s Blue Bomber squall jacket, it’s still hanging in a closet at Mom and Dad’s. My Grandma and Grandpa Davies lived in Winnipeg all their lives. It’s a beautiful city and every visit there (including the last one, with Mom and Dad in 2019) was magical.
The Grey Cup and Super Bowl was always a time to come together and share good food and laughs. Below, a typical family room set up- football hamster ready to sing if the team we were cheering for scored; Dad’s referee cup holder; tv commercial bingo; snacks in football-shaped containers; Edmonton Eskimos football from a game Dad and I went to long ago; and (partially hidden) “D-Fence” headgear, which I usually wore. AstroTurf coasters are on a table behind.
The most notable and prized treasure of football finals, and the item that best sums up Dad’s playful, lighthearted nature, was the paper football table centrepiece. It is notably battered, taped poorly on the ends, barely stands up, and Dad added a bandaid for effect several years ago. Oh, how we loved getting together, and we always had so much fun.
