Living in Washington State, I am surrounded by Seahawks fans who only become more zealous the further into the season we get. Thankfully, it's summer now, and I don't have to deal with any of this. The Seahawks craze has reached such levels that my job bought us all jerseys to wear on Blue Fridays. Now let's get something straight: I am not a Seahawks fan. I might be happy to see my regional team do well, but I will never be a bandwagon fan. My loyalties have always lain elsewhere, and unless Drew Brees decides to retire to the Great Northwest, I'll stay as I am, thank you very much. Those who are similar true fans don't bother me. They respect my steadfastness, and only roll their eyes when I mention that I am also a fan of everything Pittsburgh (this is a step up from my last job, where anyone who was a Seahawks fan had to talk about that Super Bowl - that always made me laugh. I am, by no means a Big Ben fan, and my loyalty has shifted in Pittsburgh to the Pens since he became the Steelers quarterback. Call me odd, but I was a huge Kordell Stewart fan).
Anyway, the truest Seahawks fan I know would have to be my mother. She met many of them during the age of the Boz (whom she hated) and Steve Largent. She knows her Hawks, and I respect that. We might not have been on the best of terms for that Super Bowl, but we've learned to move past it. And so, for a life long fan, there is little more rewarding than to have an opportunity to embrace that. Today, I'm happy to report, she got to do just that, meeting one of the Seahawks mascots while at a volunteer event for local reading in our area: the Summertime Reading Challenge. For doing a good thing, and for being a lifelong fan, here is her (long time coming) reward:
And really, there's nothing cooler than that.
L.E.
