Chapter 17 – Football Fan!

football

The toy football from that unforgettable day

This is one instance where what I experienced HAD to be coincidence, but to this day it messes with my head.
One winter day at the townhouse, Gabby and I were in my bedroom watching a playoff football game. My team dropped behind by 21 points in the second half, and given the way they were playing, it looked to be over.
I went down to the home office to work on my computer. I could see up the steps and into the bedroom from my desk there. Gabby didn’t follow for some reason, which was very unusual for her.  She was OK, so I left her curled up on the bed with the TV on.
A little bit later, I heard the announcer excitedly report, “He’s at the twenty… he’s at the ten… it’s a TOUCHDOWN!”
At that moment, Gabby started barking like crazy.  She jumped off the bed, came to the edge of the steps, and looked at me, still barking.
I laughed. I knew it was likely the announcer’s excitement that set her off, but it was almost like she was trying to tell me that our team scored.  I went up and watched the rest of the game with her. They came from behind and won!  It put me in a great mood.

Later that day we were in the living room.  I pointed to the steps and said, “Go get your toy!”  

She took off for the home office, one flight up.  Instead of grabbing one of the many toys there as she usually did, she turned the corner, went up the flight of stairs to the bedroom, then I heard her go up one more short flight of stairs to my photo studio room.

She was away for about two minutes.  I heard activity, but did not know what she was doing.  Finally, I heard her coming down the steps to me again.
She appeared at the top of the steps to the living room, wagging, looking at me with a toy in her mouth.
A toy football.

It was a toy football that she had rejected when I brought it home. It was in a box of rejected toys all the way upstairs, and on this of all days, she ignored all the toys spread over the house, went up steps all the way, rummaged through the box and found it, then brought it down to play.

I just looked in disbelief, then laughed.  
Who’s ready for some football?