02-02-2020

Look at those numerals. Those eight digits, made entirely of 2's and 0's, form a palindrome reading the same forward and backward. How unusual is that? How fortuitous? How can a date like that bring anything other than memorable and amazing things?

It can't.

Last Sunday was destined for greatness in at least three ways, which I enumerate here from least to most important:

1. Punxsutawney Phil, the weather-predicting groundhog, did not see his shadow this year, thus predicting an early spring. On the typical 02-02, this hairy little meteorologist from Pennsylvania shows no sympathy for those of us suffering the usual icy, snowy Midwest winter. For whatever reason, he took pity on us and, if he did see his shadow, he had the decency to keep it to himself.

This is good news for people in our neck of the woods. We are tired of fighting cold winds, treacherous driving conditions, and unpredictable event cancellations. However, the temps last Sunday hovered around an unseasonable 70 degrees, giving us a big enough taste of spring to get us really excited.

2. The Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl for the first time in fifty years. This is a big thing to Missourians, with the excitement multiplying logarithmically the closer you get to Kansas City. The game four nights ago capped off a season plagued by injuries and a post-season of dramatic comebacks. Super Bowl LIV itself brought a nail-biter which saw quarterback sensation Patrick Mahomes and company work their magic in the game's final six minutes to convert a 20-10 deficit to a 31-20 win.

3. Pooh celebrated his eleventh birthday, which he observed in grand style beginning with a visit from Pa-pa and me Thursday through Saturday. We took along a Chiefs AFC West Division Champ shirt for him and a dozen cupcakes with Chiefs decorations.

On Saturday he had a football-themed party with his friends, and on Sunday we traded text messages and photos as the big game came down to the wire. In our family, we will always remember that Pooh turned eleven years old on the day the Chiefs won the Super Bowl--02-02-2020. Pooh loves sports, especially football, so this makes both events extra special.

Over the past few days my Facebook "memories" have been popping up with pictures of Pooh on some of his previous birthdays. There was the one from ten years ago where he was sitting in his high chair with his face covered in chocolate icing. In another ten years, he will be a grown man of twenty-one. This is scary.

Years ago, I could never have imagined life with seven grandchildren. Now, I can't imagine it without them. Birthdays always seem to bring reflections on how fast the kids are growing up and how time is getting away.

But enough of that. Spring is coming, the Chiefs are champs, and Pooh has reached the fun age of eleven. It is a happy time for us, and this boy is a huge reason for that.