One of the great things about going on trips is that you get to meet new people. My son Michael and I met up in Kansas City last weekend for the Nebraska-Oklahoma football game that would determine the winner of the Big 12 Conference.

Michael's mom and my son, Will, had already made plans to go to Kansas City on Saturday to see Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band so Michael rode along with them.

We met up long enough at the hotel to change into our winter gear and then headed for Arrowhead Stadium. Once there, we were fortunate enough to park next to some of the nicest guys I've ever met. Tom Victor, who lives in  Omaha and is originally from Cedar Rapids Iowa, was there with two of his boys and their friends and we just sort of made an instant connection with each other as he was opening up the back end of his pick-up the same time Michael and I were opening our trunk to begin the tailgate festivities that Arrowhead Stadium is famous for.

I told him my best friend in McCook, Rick Michaelsen, was also from Iowa and that started a conversation that went on right up until it was time to go to the game. Even though we arrived in the parking lot almost four hours before kick-off, the time flew by because of the friendship Tom and I were able to forge.

 

As gametime appro-ached, we left the comfort of our tailgate party and the warmth of our vehicles to a never-ending line that was being body-searched in order to get into the stadium. Once inside, we found our seats high in the south end zone, which meant the slight, but chilling, north wind was blowing right in our faces.

On top of that, the maintenance crew hadn't cleared off the ice and snow that had fallen a couple of days earlier so we found ourselves sitting on ice with our feet resting in ice. The temperature at kick-off was 16 degrees and it was absolutely bone-chilling.

That's the coldest I've ever felt in my life. We somehow survived till the end of the third quarter when I turned to Michael to tell him something and saw that his whole body was trembling. I decided it was time to go back to the hotel and Michael didn't need any convincing.

As soon as we arrived, Michael took a hot shower while I made us a couple of adult beverages and we watched the remainder of the game in the warmth and comfort of our hotel room. As I'm sure you saw on television, Oklahoma fans were few and far between.

The estimates I've seen put the Nebraska crowd at 60,000 and I wouldn't be surprised if it was even higher than that. From where we were, you could barely hear the OU band or the OU faithful, except the few that were scattered around us.

Depending on who you talk to, which is always the case, Oklahoma could have won by a lot more or Nebraska could have lost by a lot less. The four factors evident to me were that Nebraska had the crowd and the weather; Oklahoma had the players and the coaches. At least this time around.

                                                    ***** 

My two boys and their mom are in Honolulu this weekend to see U2 perform.

 I wasn't invited.

 *****

 Finally, I would like to talk just a little bit about the joy of being able to do lots of things and go lots of places. Some people call it "living large."

I've been fortunate in that respect and, as a result, have met some great people, had some incredible experiences, and been able to see things I never imagined I would ever get to see.

But I can tell everyone one thing for sure that some of you already know. Unless you're able to do those things with the one person on the entire planet you want to be with, then living large isn't all it's cracked up to be.

In fact, instead of relishing the moment for what it is, you find yourself bemoaning the fact that she isn't by your side to experience it with you and how much richer and better and more wonderful the whole experience would be if she was.

There is someone out there for us that touches our heart and grabs our soul, while reminding us that our lives were nothing but empty shells until they walked in. 

Because of that, regardless of where we go or what we see and experience, we know our lives are incomplete because they're not with us and we also know that the search is over, whether we end up with them or not, because they were our destiny. Elton John said it better than anyone in his classic love song:

 

"In the instant that you love someone

in the second that the hammer hits

reality runs up your spine

and the pieces finally fit

 

And all I ever needed was "the one"

Like freedom feels when wild horses run

When stars collide

Like you and I

No shadows block the sun

You're all I ever needed

Baby, you're the one"

 

We can never give up on the loves of our lives, even when the sky is the darkest and it appears that all hope is gone, because miracles do happen; sometimes when we least expect them.

 

So for all of you reading this who feel like you've had your lives quashed and your souls drained because of a lost and forever love, all you have to do is remember the words of Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell:

 

"Ain't no mountain high enough,

ain't no valley low enough,

ain't no river wide enough

to keep me from you."

 

Because no person, no word, no threat, and no circumstance can ever extinguish true love.