There were tears...

It was September 25, 2006.

Mark and I were settling in for the evening, excited about watching some Monday Night Football, although that's not necessarily normal part of our lives. You see, Mark grew up in north Louisiana and he's been a New Orleans Saints fan his whole life. On this particular night, the Saints were hosting the first home football game in the New Orleans Superdome since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and it was set to be a spectacular event. A celebration of hope for a devastated state of Louisiana.

Now, those of you who don't know Mark well may not realize he's very tenderhearted. He is certainly not overly emotional, but when his passions are stirred (and he's incredibly passionate about sports, sports history, athletes as people, etc.) he can get a little overwhelmed with emotion at times.

As I sat on my couch that Monday night, I watched the tears well in his eyes in response to the magnitude of the moment when the Saints took the field in the Superdome once again. He was proud to be a Saints fan, proud to be a Lousiana boy, and hopeful in the power of sports to restore those grieving so deeply in his great state.

Fast forward to January 24, 2010 when the Saints won the NFC championship game. I saw the excitement of a child in my sweet husband when he realized his beloved Saints would finally - after so many years of failure - go to a Super Bowl. He joked with our college minister at church (also a huge Saints fan) about Drew "Bresus". He mentioned to me once during the last week that he was certain the rapture was imminent as he just knew Jesus would return before the Saints could win a Super Bowl. He had a nightmare earlier this week that we had a family emergency and he missed the Super Bowl entirely. I am telling you - he wanted them to win this game so deeply.

So, tonight we stayed home with our little family to watch what we hoped wouldn't be a blow out game. Mark has been decked out in his Saints sweatshirt and NFC championship shirt all week. He even wore black and gold to church this morning! We were ready...

So we made some rotel...(because all good football games are accompanied by rotel)

Check out the rotel stains on Turner's shirt and her mouth!

This girl loves her some rotel and chips! The heat doesn't bother her a bit!!

And then we sat in nervous anticipation for the next few hours...hoping. Just hoping they could somehow maintain the magic just one more game.

And oh they didn't disappoint.

Let me tell you a little secret about this video...you see, when the game changing interception happened, I had just taken a phone call regarding some school stuff for tomorrow. Suddenly, I heard screaming and the extraordinarily loud stomps that result from a grown man jumping off the ground repeatedly...I went running toward the den (phone still in hand) to see what was happening.

I came through the door to see Mark jumping at least 1.5 feet in the air (while holding Turner who was giggling like crazy but looked like she was scared to death) and shouting at the top of his lungs. My friend on the other end of the line was laughing hysterically when I finally got the house calmed down enough that she could hear me again.

Obviously, I didn't have my camera in hand while all this transpired...but I had enough forethought to get it out and ready...and wouldn't you know when the REPLAY of the interception came on after the commercial break, this is the video of what happened. Let me be clear - this isn't a 1/10th of the yelling and jumping that were actually going on in real time.


When the last Colts attempt fell short with 44 seconds left in the game, Mark finally let himself go there - to actually realize they were going to win this game. And I saw the tears well up again in his eyes. He always tries to hold it back a little, but tonight was just too much. As we watched the post-game celebration (click for our favorite picture) it was just too hard to hold it back and I saw him wipe a tear off his cheek. Then we laughed as we watched via webcam as Bourbon Street turned from practically empty to complete bedlam.

For my sweet Mark and his daddy, Jimmy and his daddy, Dick and his daddy...and for all the other little boys and their daddies who have loved the Saints through the tough times....thank you Saints.

And finally, a big WHO DAT??? from my sweet girl to you!