Yes, he left to go be the head coach of West Virginia...but returned to FSU as head coach in 1976. Dean and I were not in attendance for those games in '76, as Adam was born on September 1st. ( We were a little BUSY!!)
BUT..the very next year, we began many years of home game attendance, staying with Margaret and Karen and Bill, in Tallahassee during the Fall weekends! The kids grew up knowing how to spell Florida State, watching Renegade and Bobby Bowden on the sidelines. Their very first game...Charlotte Williams, Margaret and I held the three little ones on our laps in the end zone. Karen cried when the crowd yelled, but she and Adam fell fast asleep, by the second half....while Bill remained wide awake...big blue eyes on Bobby and the horse...never uttering a sound, except for two words.....Bobby Bowden.
Over the next 16 years or so, we repeated that trip for every home game. The kids got old enough to have their own seats, in the end zone. They made promises to stay put until halftime, when we came to "feed and water" them! They were so good....and became some of Bobby's biggest fans. David Miller became old enough to join the crowd..and the cousins started some lifetime memories that few cousins can share! Our best memory, was before a Wake Forest game, we went to visit the "new" rooms and offices built under the North End Zone...we quietly waited outside Bobby's office, just to get a glimpse of him as he left to go to the game...When he came out of his office, he stopped, knelt down to those three kids, shook their hands, wrote his autograph on a piece of scrap paper, smiled, made them feel important, as their awestruck parents just smiled and nodded, too impressed to speak!
As Adam and David Valenzano (Adie Price's oldest) became good friends, David joined the cousins at the games. Dean would lead the troup to the practice field, before the games for passing and receiving skills. I think the kids would have spent the whole time there, if we had let them. But, then to the game...and again, they no longer sat in the end zone...but had their own seats above ours. They waited patiently, whether the Seminoles won or lost to take part in another tradition...wait for the stands to clear...the field to empty...drop to the field and run their own touchdowns....a few times, Dean would even get to meet a couple of the players, (Leroy Butler...Eric Hayes...others), as they would wander back out of the dressing rooms for their own reasons...Sadly, that tradition ended too soon for us, as the practice field was locked up, and noone could get on the game field after the game...Our memories remain!Even later, Adam and Lori would come up occasionally, for a Miami or gator game. I gladly gave up my ticket, to watch the game at home, or spend a day with the grands, when they came up with their parents. After this year...I was glad NOT to be at the stadium..Do you know we had rain for almost every home game? I think God was even shedding a few tears for Bobby's last year at FSU!
So many memories, both for us as a family, and for all of FSU. Ann Bowden was the one who came up with the idea for a new vision of what people would think of, when they heard the name FSU. In 1978, Renegade and Chief Osceola became household words, and wonderful TV and photo opportunities. They even allowed the duo to stay on the field at this year's Gator Bowl! Grandson, Rusty likes the Appaloosa...he would call him Chalky!
Soooo, the Gator Bowl of 2010 was so much more than Bobby Bowden's last football game. This is truly the end of an era, for him and his folks, for FSU, and for our family and friends. We will all have our own personal memories of Bobby...mine will be that golf tournament in St. Pete, where I was the only "girl" playing. Someone came up behind me and slapped me on the back...I wheeled, ready to lay into whomever...it was Bobby Bowden. After just a few minutes, he made it seem like he had known me for years..learned I was from Eustis, FL and discussed WITH ME all the good players he had from our area like Howard Ehler, Billy Rhodes and Billy's sons. I told him of how my Mama was so proud of FSU when they hired him...how she wrote a letter to him...and how she still had his reply...he said, he remembered and appreciated the support. When we parted, and he went on to the next fan...I will always remember how kind, how personable, and how I felt like he really knew me and WANTED to get to know me better. I am sure that is how he treated everyone....like family!
So, like a member of my family, I will always be grateful to have had little snippets of time with the Legend. And like a member of my family, I will miss not seeing him at every home football game. I will miss how he seemed to irritate the fool out of Steve Spurrier and many of the gators. I will miss the class and caring that he brought to College football. As a teacher, I will miss the loss of another great teacher for young men, who need a good, loving male role model so badly. But, like a member of my own family, I will always have the memories of the happy times, the times when he was there...the head coach of my university... the man who gave so many a reason to be proud. I thank you, Bobby Bowden, for being the man you are....for loving your extended family, even when they made mistakes, when they didn't seem to like you much, when they wouldn't listen to your sage advice...when all you really wanted to do was help and love and teach and learn. You treated us all like you would your own family.
Bye, for now, Bobby Bowden. Thanks for sharing him, Ann. And thanks for all the memories...they can never be taken away! WE LOVE YOU, BOBBY
2 comments:
Yep, I'm bawling now...must have needed a good cry :)
Geez Aunt Andie ... how many times did you cry writing that one? Great memories!!! I didn't know that about the golf tournament. Thanks for sharing!
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