Fairweather Friends
My brother, Rayo, is not a fairweather fan. No, indeed. He is die-hard, all the way, no question about it, no gray area, 100%, Reds, Bengals, Xavier, any and all of his sons' teams, don't ask him again, don't look any further than his hat or sweatshirt on gameday, enough said, true blue, pass the Skyline, WHO-DEY!. HIs loyalty is something to be admired.
I'm kind of a true fan. I'm an Indians' fan for sure, but growing up, I was a real Reds fan. After I was married, Adam and I moved to Atlanta, then Toronto and Baltimore, and weirdly enough, we moved to each city at a time when each team made the playoffs at some level. I began to think I was some sort of lucky charm, and had no problem rooting for the Braves, for the Blue Jays, and for cute Cal Ripkin. Then I came to Cleveland, and as a Reds fan in my heart, it was a little harder to get past he innate rivalry, but I do like to be a part of the fan base for the city in which I live. Since I was never going to move again, I put on the Indians hat and the CAVS jersey and began cheering (okay, I never actually wore a jersey, it's just not a good look for me at all.) I even became a Browns fan. And to all Cleveland fans out there, I apologize that it appears I am not so much of a lucky charm in the Cleveland football arena.
I do find, though, that when my home team is out of contention, I can find it in my heart to quietly root for the Reds. Don't tell my husband or my son. If my own team can't win, I may as well cheer for the Big Red Machine, right?
Am I a (gulp) fairweather fan?
My brother, the loyal fan, is also a very loyal friend, which got me to wondering about what kind of friend I am.
I don't want to be a fairweather friend.
I like to think I can be counted on for a meal in a time of crisis, for a card, a note, a flower, but I don't want to be the friend that appears only on the rainy day, coming to the rescue like a polka-dot umbrella when the skies are raining bad news and help is suddenly needed. And on those days that a friend has done something AMAZING so that the sun is shining right on her, of course I want to be first in line to sing praises! (I'd like to think I'm pretty good on those days.) But I also want to be the friend that shows up on the regular days. The days that Al Roker might not highlight on the Today Show as weather disasters or, conversely, as the "pick city" of the day. Do I call my friend on those run-of-the-mill, medium-temperature days to see how she is doing? Am I a superfan for my friend on those everyday days, cheering her on or lifting her spirits just to say that I think she's great?
I'm picturing these days like cardigan sweater days, you know, normal-throw-on-your-cardigan days. Which is funny, because everyone who knows me well knows that I have a minor (perhaps serious) cardigan addiction. Do I treat my friends really, really well on those normal cardigan weather days? Sweater weather days? Not just the bad rainy days or the really good sunshiny amazing friend days?
Probably not. Or probably not enough, anyway.
I have great friends, and hope to show them the loyalty that my brother shows to his sports teams. I was lucky enough to grow up with that superfan, so I know that he exhibits this quality in all aspects of his life. His friends reap the benefits of his superfan cheering.
Go friends!
That's who I want to be. Wearing my cardigan and cheering on my friends on regular days. Every day. Go friends!!
Note: I treat my cardigans really well. I hang them on extra-nice hangers. I am a superfan of my cardigans. I will treat my friends as well as I treat my cardigans everyday. Go cardigans! Go friends!
Second Note: It has become apparent that I might be in need of a cardigan intervention.
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