The Best Super Bowl Ever

In all the years we were together we rarely watched television. If we did it was a few of the shows I introduced him to that were interesting and fun and even then we rarely got through a whole show because well, it involves sitting on a sofa or lying in bed - and that always led to more interesting, and more fun things.

This seemingly trivial fact is noteworthingly astonishing because it was the antithesis of his life in his marriage, which he said revolved around the television, mainly sporting events. He also said, very sadly, that the tv was the most important thing in their house and the only thing that had any value because it was the only thing his wife cared about and would spend money on. 

So the television stayed on all the time as they used it to fill the void in their lives and relationship and he said they could easily sit watching for ten hours and never say a word to each other. They went from one sporting event to another, not just one football game but every football game, not just one basketball game but any basketball game, and not just a favorite team or sport, but all of them. 

Instead of actually participating in a sport, they watched, and he complained  that his wife thought she was an expert in these sports by virtue of regurgitating the hours and hours of commentary. 

It is unbelievable that in more than four years the only sports we ever watched were a few innings of a World Series (lying on a sofa kissing the whole time) and a little bit of one Super Bowl, the one he said was the best of his life and he would never forget.

He was still proving his deep love and commitment to me and decided to cook me dinner that night. He went to several grocery stores to pick out just the right salad, several different dressings, my favorite wine and a special dessert. He cooked my favorite dish, spaghetti with marinara, all by himself, and he was so proud.

We ate and laughed and talked, and remarked how no meal had ever tasted so good.  We were so engaged and animated that I do not remember one bit of that game, but half time was a memory I thought I would never want to forget.

We had just finished our meal when the Rolling Stones came on. I turned up the volume and started singing and dancing. He came out of the kitchen and stood and looked at me with a big smile on his face and amazement in his eyes. Come on, I said, let's dance, and we did, we danced and sang, whirled each other around, smiled, and laughed, and kissed, and caressed to the familiar tunes of our generation. 

The music ended and the game resumed but we never stopped, we turned down the volume and continued dancing very slowly while wrapped in each other's arms. After a while he came to a stop, lifted my head so that he could look into my eyes and told me how happy he was. You are so amazing he said, you're always so happy and so much fun, and you turn every day, even the smallest event, into an unbelievable time. This is the life I have always dreamed about and wanted he said, and I can't believe how lucky I am to have you in my life.

Then he turned off the lights, pulled me to the floor in front of the softly burning fire and made love to me, over and over, the rest of the night, telling me, over and over, how much he loved me and how excited he was about the incredible life we were going to have together, and we never did get to the real dessert.

Later when he went back to living there under an "arrangement" so he could "protect" his son, the constant tv watching resumed, acting as if each and every game was the most important thing of the day, while ignoring everything else in life the rest of the world values.

I asked him how it was possible to live two completely different lives and if this was who he was and what he enjoyed, and if so, how was it even possible, that we never did it. It was just another bizarre example of inexplicable jekyl/hyde behavior.

We didn't do it, he said, because we were too busy living life and having real experiences. He said that he didn't care, that it was all a sham and without the distraction he would go crazy. And he said he sat there the whole time thinking about me and the life we were going to have.