PARTY TIME!
Socrates said an unexamined life is not worth living, so this being my tenth anniversary as an Amigo, it is appropriate to look back.

It all started in 1964 when my husband's dad, Keith, and his cousin Jimmy went to their first Grey Cup. They were dedicated Ottawa Rough Rider fans who had season's tickets and a lot of good times. I guess you could say, they went for the party and stayed for the game.

Keith passed on in 1994 so his son (my husband, Alan), along with Jimmy's daughter, Anne, stepped up and accompanied Jimmy to the next Grey Cup in Vancouver. That's when The Amigos began. Keith's grandson, also Keith, joined the next year in Regina, I joined the following year in Hamilton, our son-in-law Tim joined in Vancouver in 1999, son Jacob joined in 2001 in Montreal and now Anne's son Clark, who was named for Keith Clark and is finally of drinking age, has joined this year in Winnipeg.

We have a saying: what happens at the Grey Cup stays at the Grey Cup so I can't reveal too much, but we do have a scrapbook of some of the highlights. Through the years, we've go-carted at the Edmonton Mall, had a cowboy-size dinner at the Bar C Ranch outside Calgary, and boat cruised around Vancouver harbour. But as the average age keeps dropping, the only real entertainment sought after is at the party tent where the bands play and the beers are lifted. And even at eighty-five years-old, Jimmy still leads the way.

Like any social group, we do have our traditions. Saturday night festivities always start at the railway hotel in each city where we lift our drinks and remember Alan's dad. It's impossible to forget Keith's warm and mischievous smiles. We also have the reading of "An Ode to Gibson," but I can't tell you anymore than that. And then of course there is the post-game pizza party and announcement of the pool winner. These two events are linked because the winner gets to buy the pizza. Young Clark predicted a 26-14 BC win and it ended up costing him $30. Welcome to the Amigos, Clark!

I've been a football fan all my life so it was fun to join in, but I wasn't much of a drinker…at first. But now that Alan's family has become my family, I've learned to relax and just kick back and party along. What a great group of people, and in reflecting back now, I finally realize I'm a part of something greater than I had imagined. It's not just me out walking on my trail back home; it's me and my families and fellow Grey Cup fans and all Canadians, and all sports fans around the world, and everyone out there who has stopped what they're doing to kick a ball or play a game. The point to it all, which has taken me a long time to understand, is to love life and have some fun – to come for the party and stay for the game.

In examining my life here, I've just realized I've been coasting through without truly appreciating all that I have. Crazy, eh? that I've been looking for happiness when I should have been really looking at it. Oh, boy, and I just had another revelation…what's even more ridiculous is that I've been living my life backwards - I came for the game and was still waiting for the party. Well enough of that!

GO AMIGOS!!!!!!