The 88 Illini: #32-#29
I'm just gonna tell you want parenting is like at my age and then I'm gonna get to the next four players on The 88 Illini. Actually, I'm going to tell you what grandparenting is like.
I'm currently with the entire fam at Lake Tahoe. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, like renting a house and getting all of your kids and all of their kids in one location for a week. I've been on golf trips and ski trips and lake trips and beach trips and there is nothing like "we suddenly have seven grandchildren all born within 4 years and 11 months so let's get everyone together in one place." Nothing like it. I cannot recommend it enough.
I'll just give you a snapshot. It is, at this very moment, 11:58 pm on Thursday night (so, like, 2:00 am back in Illinois). After the 5 year old, the 4 year old, the two 3 year olds, and the 2 year-old were in bed, my wife and I watched the still-awake newborns while our boys and spouses headed out to behave like they're not the parents of small children for a few hours (at our insistence). I took a "nap" around 11:00 (fell asleep in a chair) and now my wife has gone to bed and I'm watching the infants sleep on the couch next to me (in case they wake up needing some liquid food). I also have these little monitors so I can watch the others sleep upstairs. I am... The Night Watchman. It is a job I was born to do.
We took family photos on Tuesday night. It just blows my mind how fast this family exploded. Marriages and babies and before you know it there are 16 human beings sleeping under one roof. We wore the standard "neutral tones for photos by the lake" for the photo shoot and then we all changed into Illini gear for the final set of photos. DOES ANYONE UNDERSTAND WHAT IT DOES TO MY HEART WHEN THE FAMILY TEXT CHAIN SAYS "EVERYONE BRING AN ILLINI SHIRT FOR THE PHOTO SHOOT"?? All 16 people wanting to share in this thing I love. (Seven of them with no choice in the matter.)
These last few years have just been so epic. The grandkids arrive just as Engine 77 arrives and Illinois Football arrives with Citrus and Music City Bowl wins. The kids (and the grandkids) came to Orlando and they came to Nashville mostly because they know I get THIS EXACT FEELING when they're there. I never knew I'd know a love like that. When someone identifies what you love and says "we want to join you in this", man, there's absolutely nothing better.
I can't wait to share the Illini photo when the proofs come in. I don't know why, but it means something to me to share it with my subscribers. I want you to see the Illini love. What a time to be alive.
It's past midnight so it's Friday now. That means the first game is, what, 27 days away? I better get to countin' down.
(And as I'm typing that, the youngest grandson just made a sound on the couch. We're moving to Defcon 3. Four more sounds and I'm ready to heat up a bottle. Stay alert, Night Watchman. You've trained for this.)
