More than just a win today...

[solorca]

This may be a little off-topic, but I wanted to share.

 

Yesterday morning, my wife received a devastating phone call.  She learned that her father had passed away suddenly in his sleep.  Dennis was a massive Panthers fan and has been talking this game all week, and I was working on trying to find a way to get him some tickets to the game. 

 

In honor of him, his brothers and sisters all attended the game today, each wearing a piece of his huge collection of Panthers gear.  Like most of the crowd, they sat through the downpour and cheered the team on to victory, knowing in their hearts that the team was going to find a way to win in honor of him.

 

At his home, my wife and I sat and watched the game with wife.  As I was frustrated when we punted with 2 minutes remaining, my mother-in-law, who is only a casual fan, looked at me with sad eyes and said, "can we still win?".  I told her that that there was a small chance, but it was a longshot. 

 

Then we held them to a three and out.  Then Ted Ginn caught the long pass.  Then we scored.

 

I've been happy after big wins many times over the years and I consider myself a true diehard...but I've never been as happy as my mother-in-law was today.  Sometimes a win is just a win.  Sometimes, it's so much more.

 

R.I.P. Dennis.

 

 

[Black]

RIP

[Carolina Cajun]

That caught me right in the feels.  RIP, somewhere he's smiling and he knows he'll have the best seats for the playoffs.

[C47]

I'm sorry for your families loss, but I'm glad Dennis had the best seat in the house for such an incredible game. Keep Pounding! RIP Dennis....

[Growl]

That's special man. Guy had great seats from up on high and glad he enjoyed it.

[Proudiddy]

Long time no see Solorca.

Sorry for your loss. RIP Dennis. That is beautiful though that we were able to pull the win out for him... I think maybe you should email the organization and share this story with Mr. Richardson.

[ed bell]

Thanks for sharing your family's story.... RIP Dennis

[Dex]

Right in the feels. Getting #RIPDennis trending on Twitter. Sorry for your loss.

[ed bell]

I agree with Proudiddy

[Anybodyhome]

Class, solorca.

 

I'm sorry for your loss and hope today's win provided some strength in the face of sorrow.

[ladypanther]

Solorca... very nice to see you here but so sorry for the sad news.  What a nice tribute to Dennis your post is. It sounds like the entire family felt closer to him today by watching the Panthers play...which also had to be hard to do.  I have a new reason to be glad that the Panthers won which now seems the most important.

[FearTheCats]

Sorry for your losses, RIP. I'm sure somewhere Dennis is smiling. Hope the team is somehow able to hear about this (with you and your family's consent, of course) so they can rally around Dennis and win for him.

[frash.exe]

What a Saturday it was for horrible news then. Somebody I knew as an acquaintance got ejected out of his car and killed on route 80 yesterday.

[solorca]

Thanks for all of the kind words, guys.  It's nice to see some familiar faces in this thread.  I still lurk occasionally, but don't get around to posting that often.

 

One thing I failed to mention in my original post.  Dennis' birthday is February 2nd...Super Bowl Sunday.