A New Season

The Winter has been harsh. A time when life almost seems to come to a halt. A time when life hardly exists. A time of darkness, when blankets of gray clouds cover the barren land in which we live.

The Winter has been long. What light we have, it shines dimly for such a short time. Our world is cold, so cold. Warmth, nothing more than a mere memory that is slowly fading. Death, an unwanted acquaintance we learn to live with.

It has been a long, cold and harsh Winter.

Right now you are probably thinking I might be crazy. It is mid-September, and we are still on the back porch of Summer. What can I mean with all of this talk about how long and cold the Winter has been? But I do not talk of the physical world we see around us. I speak of the world of the Lions fan.

It has been so long since we have felt alive. We have loved the Lions through the absolute worst Winter imaginable. Through a time when life seemed to be non-existent and at times there just didn't seem to be any hope of it ending.

I have continued to put on my Lions hat, a hat I had made for me and is a one of a kind. I have put that hat on my head every day for years now. When the Lions did not win a single game, I wore that hat. Every Winter in the physical world, I wore my Lions coat. I dealt with the looks, the teasing, and the very rare compliment, because I refused to stop believing. Some day the Detroit Lions would be good again. Some day my Lions would vindicate my refusal to give in. Never once have I used the cliche..."The Same Old Lions"! Never once have I said... "They have always been bad and they always will be bad". I have endured and I have believed. Someday we would see the long and harsh Winter come to an end.

Before the season began, I knew the Winter had come to an end. With two dominating wins in a row, I am now seeing the world come back to life. Winter is over and Spring has come.

Like a breath of fresh air, the warmer weather has come. The sun's rays caress my cheeks and warm my skin. The grass turns green and the trees fill in again. You open up the windows and let the fresh air and cool breeze flow in to take away the stale, lifeless air you have been breathing all Winter.

There is a joy we feel when Winter is gone and the days are warm. There are more smiles and a lightness to our feet. It is called life. For death has been endured and sent on its way and life is embraced.

That is how I feel right now as a Lions fan. I have endured the worst Winter in memory. A Winter I knew would have to end some day but wondered if I would still be alive when it did. As the Lions play, and continue to win, I cannot help but to smile and embrace the new feeling of life. I breathe in the sweet taste of fresh air that fills me with excitement for the coming weeks.

I will go to work, to the stores and the mall. I will see other fans around me. I will see so many more fans than I have ever seen before. I will know many of them did not believe as I did. Many are only fans while the weather is fair. A few have been like myself and have endured, and believed.

To those who have endured, I say thank-you. You are my truest of brethren. You are the cornerstones of faith. You can now hold your heads high and be proud, for you have faced the worst and stayed strong.

To those who are new fans or simply returning home, I say welcome. Put a smile on your faces and cheer with us. Your joy will not be quite so precious, and your desserts not so sweet, but you will still be able to enjoy the fresh air of Spring. I am sad that you will not know just how sweet the fresh air tastes, as you have not endured the thick still air we have breathed for so long, but nonetheless, you will enjoy it anyway. I say welcome. I hope you will grow strong and endure the next Winter.

For now? Let us all enjoy the clean air together. Let us love and laugh together in the warmth of the sun. For the Detroit Lions are at last, once again, good!