By Anne Gagliano
Isn’t it funny how we get reflective on holidays and major events, like Christmas or the birth of a child? Memories of long ago suddenly spring into life as if they had just happened yesterday; they are somehow inextricably linked to that event. Like the Christmas I got my new bike, how it gleamed in the lights of the tree, or the day my eldest son was born—how I regretted having eaten four slices of pizza that night. Tiny details that we would normally forget are forever etched in our minds because of the momentous occasion around which they revolved. For me, a native Seattleite born and bred, this is true of this year’s Super Bowl. Super Bowl, you may ask? How can that even begin to compare to the birth of a child? Okay, maybe that is a bit of a stretch, but for those of you who may not know this, the Seahawks are more beloved by their fans than any other sports team; our recent Guinness world record should attest to that fact. We call ourselves “The 12th Man,” as our support does indeed help lead our team to victory.
You might wonder why we’re so fanatical; why on every car you see flags, on mailboxes you see balloon bouquets, and why even on one fence you see a beautifully hand-crafted steel sculpture of the Seahawk logo. One local family, whose last name is Mann, even gave their newborn baby girl the middle name “12th”; talk about dedication! So they’re going to the Super Bowl this year. The Steelers and the Cowboys have gone multiple times; what’s the big deal? I’ll try to explain. The big deal is this: Seattle’s baseball team has never even been to a World Series, let alone won, and the Seattle Sonics left our town for Oklahoma City. The only major victory for a professional men’s team that I can recall is when the Sonics won the NBA Championship in 1979—when I was just a kid. Seattle went bonkers that night, I can tell you. Even as far north as I lived, horns were blaring, people were cheering in the streets, and multiple fireworks lit up the dark waters of the Puget Sound. But that was nearly 40 years ago; we’ve been hungering for a victory ever since.
Flash forward from 1979 to 2006; at long last, Seattle had a team that made it big— the Seahawks were going to Superbowl XL. Keep in mind that Seattle hosts the only pro teams in the entire Pacific Northwest; we have fans from Idaho, Oregon, even Montana. It was a very “big deal”; I remember it like it was yesterday. Nothing galvanizes a town like a winning team, and Seattle finally had one.
I remember the events surrounding that Super Bowl with amazing clarity. Our eldest son, Michael, was in his freshman year at college. We had wept and cried that fall as we sent him off. Would he succeed? Would he graduate? Would he ever get a “real job”? We had just learned his grades for that first semester and we were, to be quite honest, very worried. Our youngest son, Rick, was a senior in high school. He, too, had just been accepted to the same private university as our eldest and would be joining him there the following fall. Our boys are just one school year apart; we were bracing ourselves for the shock of an impending empty nest and double college tuition. We were struggling enough already just to pay for one. How in the world would we ever pay for two? Would it all work out? Would our boys have a future? Was college worth the sacrifice, or was it a foolish gamble for a single-income, middle-class family?
On that Super Bowl Sunday, eight years ago, my husband Mike was also facing a weighty decision: Should he continue to try to teach a little thing called “Air Management for the Fire Service”? Was it a colossal waste of his time, energy, passion, and resources? After all, he was getting mostly resistance, flack, and even outright mockery from nearly everyone. Air management wasn’t cool; it wasn’t “sexy”; it was for wimps. So far he hadn’t earned a dime for his efforts; in fact, he was completely out-of-pocket. And he had to consider the upcoming double college tuition bills; would Air Management get in the way of his fatherly obligations? Was he (along with his co-teachers Phil, Casey, and Steve) on a fool’s errand?
These were the circumstances surrounding that momentous occasion, the Super Bowl eight years ago. But we four put them out of our minds that day as we gathered around to watch the game. We were tight, inseparable, an amazing foursome. Michael was able to come home from school to be with us; he chose to do so, for there was no one else he’d rather watch the game with than us. We had all of our favorite goodies in place to nosh: crab legs, pizza, chips, and donuts. The game began. We were so excited; we cheered, we yelled, then we became outraged and devastated as we watched the Steelers win it yet again. To this day, Seattleites begrudge the referees as we believe they gave the game away. It seemed our one chance at a Super Bowl victory had forever passed us by; surely it could never happen again.
But isn’t it amazing how things have a way of “working out”? If I could go back to that first Seahawks Super Bowl eight years ago, I would tell my little family to be of good cheer; all the problems you’re so stressed out about today will be okay tomorrow. Have faith, have hope. Miracles do happen; the Seattle Seahawks are playing yet again in Super Bowl XLVIII. Michael, despite his poor start, did eventually graduate from college with a chemistry degree. He met the girl of his dreams, got married, and even has a “real job” as a computer services manager at the university he graduated from. Rick, too, graduated with a double major, cum laude, and went on to law school in Washington D.C., where he is currently in his third year and on track to actually getting a law degree. As for Air Management, it is now the national standard for the fire service, a bestselling book, and taught nationwide. It opened the door to many other opportunities as well, and all of this has paid the college tuition for both of our children.
As Mike and I, alone, prepared to watch the Seahawks this year, we reflected on these events, which is what seems to happen on such momentous occasions. We gathered our favorite noshes once again (crab legs, pizza, chips, and donuts) only without our precious boys beside us; our inseparable foursome is no more. Michael spent the big day with his beautiful bride in their beautiful new house; Rick is in D.C., too far away to join us. You win some, you lose some, but in the end, it all works out.
A note to Bobby Halton, who bet Mike dinner on the outcome of the Super Bowl: He loves the lobster at Ruth’s Chris in Indy.
Anne G
agliano has been married to Captain Mike Gagliano of the Seattle (WA) Fire Department for 29 years. She and her husband lecture together on building and maintaining a strong marriage.
