That Golden Number One Feeling

Oh, this feeling...I could get used to this feeling. Our beloved Irish have a Midas-like influence on me; everything this week gains a golden shine when I remember, "Number one. We are number one!" Ryan is super fussy? He is soothed with some mom bouncing to the tune of the Notre Dame fight song. We need a little pick me up? Move over, Defying Gravity. It's time for some highlight videos. Obsessed doesn't even begin to describe the atmosphere in this household. 

Ryan woke up right before Stanford and Oregon faced off in overtime in the late hours of Saturday night. I guess our little fan didn't want to miss out on the party. Right after Stanford prevailed, we read a tweet from Louis Nix saying, "Campus just erupted!" And with that we grabbed the baby's coat and a blanket and made our way to campus at midnight. I was thankful as we drove to campus that my baby refuses to sleep through the night so we could easily whisk him away (see what I mean about obsessed? I am okay with my baby waking up in the middle of the night! Oh ND, what you do to me!). 

First, we visited the home of Our Lady, the Grotto, to cheer along with her as we prayed to God. What a sight it was to see all of those praying candles touched by the golden shine of a victory. Then we followed the roars of celebration all the way to Stonehenge where one big scene of insanity was occurring. 

You can see the bagpiper standing in the middle of Stonehenge

The sound of a bagpipe rose above the jumbled renditions of the fight song and shouts of, "Beat SC!" and, "We're number one!" while exuberant profanity littered the air. It was quite the atmosphere. We went to bed very late and very happy. 

The happiness continued the next morning when we should have been groggy from lack of sleep (stark contrast to what we would have been groggy from if we were still students). Yawns were golden, tired stretches were golden, morning bed head was golden. We made our way to Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, arrived fifteen minutes early and our whole group still had to stand in the overflow in the hallway. The Basilica was stuffed with thankful fans who have stuck with the team for so long; you could almost hear the silent prayers of thanksgiving just from people cracking smiles and the little pep in everyone's step. I watched priest after priest walk through the door with ND caps on before they headed to the sacristy to prepare for Mass. I smiled as I heard Fr. Rocca announce the opening hymn, "Sing Alleluia, Praise the Lord." 

Praise the Lord, indeed.

Nevertheless, four quarters on Saturday await. Let's do this and keep this golden feeling alive. 

Go Irish! Beat Trojans!