COLUMN: Navy-CMU game something dad would have wanted
This weekend will be a very emotional weekend for me.
Not because of the football game itself but the two teams playing. I grew up in a huge Marine/Navy family. My father was a Marine for more than 20 years; he retired as a Gunny Sergeant. He instilled the Marine Corps' values into my heart and into my way of life. It was always a wish for my father, Steven Harrison, to take me to a Navy football game.
Sadly, he never got the chance.
My father passed away of congestive heart failure on Nov. 8, 2009. I can still recall hearing the news from my stepmother and family coming from a long day at work. All I could think about, and sometimes still think about, were the things he was going to miss in my life.
One of those things was to take me to a Navy football game. Around the time he passed, I was a junior in high school and still trying to figure out college. Dad wanted me to go more than anything. I spoke to him about the possibility about going to the Naval Academy, but I was his youngest daughter and the baby of the family. He couldn’t picture me following his footsteps and fighting for my country.
Instead, he pushed me to become a journalist.
I can still remember the first time I drove my car. It would be the last day I would spend with him before he passed. We drove all around East St. Louis, Mo., and we spoke about the future. I can remember him looking at me and saying, “One day the two of us are going to see Navy play.” I remember laughing and smiling and saying, “I'd love that, Dad.”
Instead, it never happened.
Dad missed a lot of things in just three years alone. He missed prom and my first date, my graduation and, this Friday, my first Navy game.
I have a heavy heart this week as Friday draws closer.
I’m also thankful. Thankful for the fact that I will be able to see an amazing football team play. Friday, you can find me in the front row of the student section with a giant Marine flag waving in the wind. It won't be because I hate CMU; I’m flying it because I know my Dad will be standing next to me. Screaming for the Goats to score.
Go Navy, Go Chips!
