Last night I did something that I’ve never done before….I went to a hockey game. I know that may not sound like a very big deal, but I can assure you it was. Outside of kids football or little league, etc. I have never in my thirty-six years been to a live sporting event of any kind. I am an artsy kind of girl. I sing on a stage. I go to the Opera or to musicals. What I do not and have never done is go to sporting events. I do not cup my hands around my mouth and holler (yes I’m from the south and I said holler) at the refs about a bad call made. I don’t wear baseball caps and jerseys, and the very thought of putting a foam finger on my hand like I’ve seen them do on TV sends chills up my spine. I am not at all putting these things down for those that love them, I am just giving you a little bit of insight into who I am.
The reason I found myself at this hockey game, however, is quite special to me. You see, Master plays hockey on a team where he lives. I have yet to see him play, but hope desperately to one day soon. I have tried in the past to watch hockey on TV, but without knowing even the first thing it is rather difficult. He has done a fine job at exhibiting patience in explaining the basics to me. I really do have a patient Master, I don’t just say that to sound nice. When I say I had no knowledge of hockey in the beginning, I mean anything other than get the puck into the opposite goal and that’s it…..and I learned that from playing air hockey at summer camp with the boys.
So, I found myself with money in my pocket to buy this fabulous blazer I’d been waiting to go on sale, and now it had. Something happened, though, while printing out my email coupon for said jacket….a commercial came on TV advertising the big hockey game over the weekend. I find it amazing that without pause I said, “Screw the jacket I want to go to that hockey game”. I said this out loud, mind you, and as quickly as I did I turned to see if it had been someone else. It was me alright, and that is how I found myself there last night.
I am a dramatic girl. I can’t help it, it is who I am and it is why I can get up on stage and do what I do. It is also a bit embarrassing at times when I want desperately to blend in, but I know without a doubt that I am sticking out like a sore thumb. I truly felt as though I’d entered an entirely different world last night. Before I’d even gotten to the arena area, I had to walk through the valley of stadium foods. I say valley because there can be no lower form of edible consumption in my way of thinking. Honestly, the smells alone made me want to vomit. Nachos, hotdogs, popcorn, fries, pizza, funnel cakes and beer EVERYWHERE…..as far as the eye could see there was beer and disgusting food. I got in there and found my seat a couple rows behind the penalty box. Apparently, that is a very popular area because there wasn’t an empty seat anywhere. Lucky me, I was just behind an entire row of already drunk yet continuing to drink twenty somethings.
I immediately begin to text Master and send pictures. When a fight broke out, I would cover my eyes but was amazed that everyone else was on their feet rooting them on. It seemed barbaric. All I could think about was that my Master plays this game….oh my god, my Master plays this incredibly brutal game! I became horrified and this knot formed in my stomach. For two whole hours I watched as they slammed each other into walls and rammed their bodies full force into other players. I was trying to follow and learn but it was so hard.
I wear hearing aids in both ears, and maybe I shouldn’t have worn them last night. I was in sensory overload. I was trying to follow and determine patterns, as I always do. The fans all had bells, so I was trying to figure out what had happened to prompt the bell ringing. Then there would be music playing overhead, but only for a split second when they did or were about to do something significant. I would try to figure out by the music what they’d just done right or wrong. I’d listen to the drunk guys yelling at refs to determine good or bad calls……sensory overload to it’s absolute maximum.
And then it all at once hit me full force, the overwhelming need to burst into tears. I wanted him. I wanted him to be there explaining it all to me. I wanted him to be there because it was my very first game. I wanted him to be there because I was overwhelmed and needed to be focused and centered. I wanted to put my hand in his and feel his control, when absolutely everything in the environment around me was completely out of control. It was an odd feeling that I was having and one I didn’t expect when I walked in there. I felt very close to him, knowing this was his thing and I was attempting to share in it, and yet feeling so far away and alone and scared at that very moment. I’ve never wanted to be deaf, but I wanted to take my hearing aids out. I wanted the buzzers and music and yelling at the refs and vendors yelling about beer and cotton candy, and bells ringing behind me and the big voice guy overhead talking about a play that I couldn’t understand…..all of it, I wanted it all to go away and I only wanted to hear his voice saying “Little one, it’s okay. Just focus on me”.
Though it might not sound like it from this entry, I was glad that I went to the game even if I didn’t fully understand it. I stepped way outside my box, but at the end of the day am glad I did.
~His little one