Rusty had been a season ticket holder for the
Columbus Blue Jackets since the franchise began a quarter-century ago. Unfortunately the combination of cancer and heart disease got him back in
November. Last night I accompanied his widow Kirsten to their seats for the first time since her husband's death.
She told me that she wouldn't have gone without me, that it was too much. Kirsten's health is not the best either, the sort of thing that becomes endemic as you age. Years ago my father told me "Not a month goes by when I don't at least go to a viewing." I got it intellectually then. I really get it now. Watching Karen, Rusty, Deb's husband and Newt plus the small group of pills I take every day has driven home my mortality. I am going to die. But Rusty already is dead, and I'm there with his widow, sitting in Rusty's seat, cheering for OUR team. I've sat here before, normally where Kirsten is sitting. They're good seats, first row of the upper deck, in the corner with a clear view of the ice no matter where the puck is. I've had a lot of fun there. And they're good enough seats the Arena has someone assigned someone to guide anyone was there. He asked who we were, and Kirsten tapped her and Rusty's name on the wall. He stored her walker, and we sat for the night.
It was a fun game, a real struggle. Our much maligned goaltender, Elvis Merzlikins, played the sort of game we'd hoped for when we signed him a couple years ago. The Jackets are a fun team. Everyone expected the team would stink, because we had a new coach, and the team is super young, our best player had been run down in a road rage haze, with a players under 23 holding important positions. We have a rookie holding down our second defensive pairing, something almost unheard of, and thing is, he's pushed veterans out of that spot. Or maybe the veteran pushed himself out with bad turnovers. Injuries forced 20 year old Adam Fantilli into the top line center position, and he's doing it! The simple fact is the kids are playing way above their years, and they are a threat to win every time they step on the ice. They need to improve on the road, but you can see it coming. The Jackets may go from a lottery pick to the playoffs in one year. So to beat L.A. at home in overtime made for a thrilling, scary and intense game for a loyal fanbase who has spent years rooting for a team that has won only one playoff series.
It was a great time and as I helped Kirsten back to her car, I talked about the game. For her it was more, her going back to the arena she and her husband loved. It was deeply emotional with me rather than Rusty sitting to her left. She didn't say much about it, but it mattered. She told me, "If we lose I'm not coming back." The pain of defeat plus her loss felt like it might be too much. But we didn't lose. We won. She'll come back to take her seat next to long time friends.