Carl Hagelin, the best brother
Chapter 3
“Watching these games makes me want to go back to Michigan”, Carl says. I’m jolted back to reality by those words. Erica smirks at him from over her shoulder. “I love watching you play”, I tell him. He hugs me. “You mean when I played for Michigan? Or now”, he asks. I stare at him. “Anytime you play, silly boy. At Michigan, it was special. You were a special player. The NHL already had Swedes by the time you came along. But, at Michigan, you were the first Swede ever to play. That’s why the fans loved you so much. That’s why they held the Swedish flag at home games. And, that’s also why they played the Swedish national anthem on Senior Night. I love watching you play now because... it’s the NHL. You’re a good player. Maybe not a superstar, yet, but you have speed. The flash wearing number 62”, I say. Erica turns around from the sink. “Are you giving Carl a motivational speech over there? That’s what it sounds like”, she asks. I laugh. “No. I’m just telling him why I like to watch him play”. Erica studies Carl for a minute. “I think you look better when you wear the blue jersey”, she says.
I smile at Erica’s words. I knew what she was doing: flirting with him. Carl gives her a look over his shoulder. “Thanks for the compliment, Erica. I like the blue jersey better, too”, he says. I climb into his lap and feel his arms go around me. I know: I’m a big girl and shouldn’t be sitting in people’s laps. But, it makes me feel safe. I’m startled by the sound of my phone ringing. I answer it. “Hello?” “Hi, girl!” My smile and the little happy yell that I do makes Carl know who is on the phone. “Hi, A.J! You haven’t called in a long time. What’s going on”, I ask. “We’ve won four straight games. Two of them went into overtime. Those two were against Michigan State. We won the other two by two goals. Those were against Michigan Tech”. I make a face. “I’m not surprised the Michigan State games went into overtime. It’s always a fierce fight between the two of you. Did you score any goals in those four games”, I ask. “Yes. I got two goals against Michigan State. And I got four goals in the games against Michigan Tech”. I smile. “I’m glad you got some goals, A.J. You’ve had to pick up the pace since Carl left”, I say, a little tease in my voice. I hear A.J laughing. “How’s Carl doing this year? Has he scored any goals?” “A.J! I think you should know by now that any where Carl goes, he scores. He’s doing well. Just to let you know, he still has the speed”, I tell my boyfriend. “I’m not surprised. He was the speediest guy on the team. He always kicked my butt in practice”. I can see Carl laughing at A.J’s comment. “Let me talk to him”, Carl says. “Just a minute”, I whisper. “So, Lizzy, have you scored any goals this year”, A.J asks. “Of course. I’ve had five two goal games and two hat tricks. I’m the second highest scorer on my team with fifteen goals”, I say. “With that speed that you have, which I know you got from Carl, I’m not surprised”, A.J replies. I smile a little. “Thanks, A.J. Hey, Carl wants to talk to you. So, I’m going to give him the phone. I miss you. Call me back later, okay?” “Okay. Talk to you later, babe”. I smile and hand the phone to Carl.
I look over at the clock. 5:00. I pull on Carl’s arm. When I have his attention, I point at the clock. “We have to leave by 5:30, don’t we”, I ask. “No. Our game isn’t until 7:30. We leave at 6”, he tells me.
I wander into the kitchen, where Erica is baking. “What are you making”, I ask her. She smiles. “I’m making something for Carl. It’s something he’s been craving for two weeks. Oatmeal cookies”, she replies. I smile a little. “Good. Carl will love you for it”. Erica smirks. “He loves me already. What you meant to say was, ‘He love you more for it’”. I help Erica out by getting the ingredients for her. Finally, we have the cookies in the oven. I hear Carl saying bye to A.J. He comes into the kitchen and hands me my phone. “Something smells good. What did you make”, he asks. Erica looks at him. “Oatmeal cookies. You’ve been hungry for them the last two weeks”. Carl smiles and hugs her. “Can I have them now”, he whines. “No, Carl. They’re baking in the oven. If you have a good game tonight, you can have them when the game is over”, Erica replies. I smile and hug Carl. “He can have one now. But only one”, I say, looking at Carl. Erica frowns. “He’s been wanting them for a long time now. You made them just now. It would be awful for him not to have one before he leaves”, I say. Erica finally agrees. “They’re almost done. Go and get dressed, then you can have one”, she says.
Erica and I watch him hurry off. “There’s something about him that friends and family are attracted to”, I say as Erica takes the cookies out of the oven. “I agree”, she says. I pretended to get mad at her. “Not that he’s cute”, I say. Erica smirks at me. “Well, that is one part of why I got attracted to him”, she says. I nod. “I know. But that’s not all”, I say. “I could think of some other things: he’s nice to his siblings, he was the first Swede to play for Michigan, he’s funny, he puts people at ease, he’s good with kids”. “I agree. But girls, fan girls, wouldn’t see that. They would like him for two reasons only: he’s cute, and he’s famous”, I state. Erica agrees.
I hear Carl’s footsteps on the stairs. Erica and I both turn around. I run towards him. Erica stays where she is. “You look good in a suit”, she says, trying not to laugh. Carl glares at her. “Thanks. Can I have one now”, he asks. I run out of his arms, grab one, and run back. He smiles and runs a hand through my hair. “Thanks. Jeez, these are good”, he says, eyes wide. Erica smiles. “I know you love them. Every time I come over you want me to make them”, she says. Carl winks at her. “Is it too much to ask my girlfriend to make me some over her famous oatmeal cookies? I sweat playing hockey just to entertain her”, he says.
Right now, I’m sitting in my seats at Madison Square Garden. This is the home of the New York Rangers. The place is beautiful. It’s one of, if not the oldest, hockey arena in the U.S. Every time I come here, I get chills. I’m sitting in a legend. I look up at the ceiling. Up there are where the banners of Stanley Cup past and numbers of famous players live. I look at the scoreboard, where the countdown clock is. Twenty-three minutes until game time. Or, as I like to say, until, the players come out to start the game. Warm-ups are finished, and there are no players on the ice. There is enough time for me to go back in time, or have a flashback, to Carl’s first NHL goal. I nudge Erica. “I’m going back in time to Carl’s first goal in the NHL. Shake me if I don’t come back in time for the players to come out, or do it when they’re ready to have the players come out”, I say. Erica nods and smiles. It was in the second period, and I had a feeling something exciting was going to happen…
I’m sitting next to my boyfriend, A.J. It’s in the second period, and the Rangers are winning one to nothing. “This is going to be the period where Carl gets his first goal”, I tell him. A.J smiles. “He has to get his goal sometime”, he agrees. My brother, Carl Hagelin, had his first NHL game two days ago. He’d gotten an assist in that game, but no goal. Now, as I see #62 hit the ice, a feeling of excitement rises in my chest. “Come on, Carl”, I yell as my brother flashes by. Both of us rise in our seats. “I can’t sit down. It’s too good”, I tell A.J. He smirks at me. I quickly turn my head back to the ice. I see Carl shoot once, miss, find the puck, and shoot again. GOAL! I jump up and let out a loud scream. A.J and I hug. Tears fill my eyes as I watch Carl celebrate with his teammates. “He finally got it”, I exclaim. A.J hugs me. “Yes! He got it”, he whispers into my ear. I watch as Carl skates towards the bench. He looks serious, but I know that he’s happy on the inside. Carl goes slow as he skates to where we are sitting. He looks up and finds me. I wave at him, smiling a big smile. He waves back. I know people here won’t mind if I run down to bottom of the stands for a minute. I do it and press my hands against the glass. “I’m so proud of you, Carl”, I yell. He skates to where I am and puts his hands where mine are on the glass. I watch him mouth “I love you” to me. I smile and he smiles back. I hear his teammates yelling at him. I back off and watch him skate slowly. I run up a couple steps, turn, and smile at him before running back to my seat.
Erica shakes me back to reality. I look at her. She points at the bench. “They’ll be coming out soon”, she says. I say two “Hail Mary’s” and an “Our Father”. I’ve just finished praying when the New York Rangers start to come out. I cheer at each skate that touches the ice. Both Erica and I cheer the loudest when we see #62 come out onto the ice. I hold up my “#62 Forever” sign that I made. Carl skates slowly as he comes to where we are sitting. I point at my sign and smile. He smirks a little, then gives us the thumbs-up. He skates away. I nudge Erica. “The flash wearing the number 62”, I say. Erica laughs a little.
The opening face-off has just been won by us. I see a flash of black and white. I manage to spot the number: 87. “Crosby”, I whisper to Erica. “Whoever the stars on our team are, they’d better watch out for him. He always tries to go after them”, she says. I nod. I turn back to the ice and see a 19 skate by. –Richie- I thought. I can see Crosby following him. Richie turns away from Crosby and heads up the ice. I remember Richie’s words from practice this morning: “I’m going to score a hat trick”. I nudge Erica and whisper Richie’s words into her ear. “I hope he does”, she says.
I watch as one of our players steals the puck and skates up the ice. He shoots and… HE SCORES! I jump from my seat and pump my fist. I hug Erica. “I couldn’t see who the player was. Who was it”, I ask. Erica looks at me, surprised. “I’m surprised you didn’t see the number. It was Carl”, she says. I let out a yell and hold up my sign. I watch as they skate back to the bench and do their thing. Carl passes us, then turns to look at us. I’m smiling like crazy. I point at my sign. “This is for you, Carl”, I yell, pointing in his direction. He does his special wave. Erica looks at him. “Nice goal, hot shot”, she yells at him. I can see him smirking a little. He heads back to the bench, and play resumes.
Carl turns away from Crosby and sprints up the ice. He can hear Crosby yelling at him from behind. He stops and turns to face the Penguin’s captain. “What are you yelling at me for? If you want to catch up with me, why don’t you work on your speed a little more”, Carl asks. Crosby looks at him. “If we lose this game to you guys , my sister will make sure your sister loses hers”, he says. Carl levels his blue eyes at him. Then, he turns and skates away.
There is a break in the action. We are still winning one to nothing. I’ve been surprised that Crosby hasn’t scored any goals yet. Usually, he is tearing up the ice. “Look. Crosby is heading for Carl”, I whisper to Erica.
“Why do you keep following me”, Carl snaps at Crosby. “I want to know why you’re stopping me from scoring, but none of your other teammates are”, Crosby replies. Carl smirks. “They have been stopping you. You just haven’t noticed”, he replies, his eyes flashing dangerously. Crosby skates a little closer. “My sister is leading the league in scoring. What has your sister been doing”, he asks. “My sister has been giving her teammates chances to score. She has been using her speed to get assists. She doesn’t have the puck every single minute of the game, unlike you and your sister”, Carl replies, anger in his voice.
It’s the third period, and Carl’s goal is still the only goal in the game. I hope Richie can produce some more offence. I can see him on the ice. “Look at Richie. He’s trying to get away from Crosby”, I say to Erica. “Crosby has been trailing him all game”, she replies. Suddenly, Crosby slams Richie into the boards. I wince, hoping and praying that he’s okay. “He’s fine. Look, he is getting up and is trying to go after Crosby”, Erica says. I can see someone holding Richie back. “Can you see who’s holding Richie? Whoever it is, he looks to be Carl’s size”, I say. Erica squints. “No, I don’t think that’s Carl. It might be Step”, she whispers back.
The game is over. Richie got a hat trick, like he promised he would. Rangers won, four to nothing. Erica and I are waiting in the parking lot for Carl, Step, and Richie. I spot them. “Erica, I can see them”, I say, pointing. She smiles. Carl is the first one to appear, Step and then Richie follow. I climb out of the truck bed and run towards Carl. “That was a good game, Carl”, I say as he picks me up. “Well, Richie told me to get a goal. So I did”, was Carl’s reply. I hug him, then he puts me down. I run to Richie. “You did it! You scored a hat trick”, I exclaim as I jump into his arms. He smiles and spins me around. “You think I wouldn’t get a hat trick? I wanted to after Crosby purposely smashed me into the boards”, he says. I smile. “Crosby was just being Crosby. He always goes after the other team’s best players. That’s why you have to watch out for him”, I say.
Step came over to our house. I greeted him with a smile and a hug. “Hi, Step”, I say. “Carl invited me to your game. Am I allowed to come”, he asks. I smirk at him. “Of course. I come to your games. Have you seen me play before”, I ask. Step thinks for a minute. “Not in a real game. You practice with us sometimes. I’d say you’re almost as fast as Carl is”. At that moment, Carl came over. “If Lizzy wants to be as fast as me, she’ll have to work pretty hard. I’m the fastest player in the NHL”. To some people, he might be bragging. But, I know my brother and I know it to be true. He won the fastest skater competition before the NHL all-star game this year. I shove his shoulder. “Carl, everyone knows that. You’ve said that to me about 20 times the past two days”, I tell him. My brother wraps me in a hug. “Richie and Erica can come to your game”, he says. I smile. “Good! You and Erica are the only ones who have seen me in a real game before”.
Tonight, before I go to sleep, I think about all the things that happened today. Carl’s game, meeting Erica for lunch, saying the rosary twice, going to practice, watching Carl at Michigan. I must say, today was quite busy. And, it was a good day. I kneel next to my bed. “Thank you God for a lovely day. And what was the other I had to say?”…
Carl stays up for a little bit longer. He curls up on the couch with Erica. They’re watching DREAMER. Erica looks up at him. “I love this movie. Isn’t it one of Lizzy’s favorites”, she asks. Carl smiles at her. “Yes. She always cries”. Erica rests her head against his shoulder.
I smile at Erica’s words. I knew what she was doing: flirting with him. Carl gives her a look over his shoulder. “Thanks for the compliment, Erica. I like the blue jersey better, too”, he says. I climb into his lap and feel his arms go around me. I know: I’m a big girl and shouldn’t be sitting in people’s laps. But, it makes me feel safe. I’m startled by the sound of my phone ringing. I answer it. “Hello?” “Hi, girl!” My smile and the little happy yell that I do makes Carl know who is on the phone. “Hi, A.J! You haven’t called in a long time. What’s going on”, I ask. “We’ve won four straight games. Two of them went into overtime. Those two were against Michigan State. We won the other two by two goals. Those were against Michigan Tech”. I make a face. “I’m not surprised the Michigan State games went into overtime. It’s always a fierce fight between the two of you. Did you score any goals in those four games”, I ask. “Yes. I got two goals against Michigan State. And I got four goals in the games against Michigan Tech”. I smile. “I’m glad you got some goals, A.J. You’ve had to pick up the pace since Carl left”, I say, a little tease in my voice. I hear A.J laughing. “How’s Carl doing this year? Has he scored any goals?” “A.J! I think you should know by now that any where Carl goes, he scores. He’s doing well. Just to let you know, he still has the speed”, I tell my boyfriend. “I’m not surprised. He was the speediest guy on the team. He always kicked my butt in practice”. I can see Carl laughing at A.J’s comment. “Let me talk to him”, Carl says. “Just a minute”, I whisper. “So, Lizzy, have you scored any goals this year”, A.J asks. “Of course. I’ve had five two goal games and two hat tricks. I’m the second highest scorer on my team with fifteen goals”, I say. “With that speed that you have, which I know you got from Carl, I’m not surprised”, A.J replies. I smile a little. “Thanks, A.J. Hey, Carl wants to talk to you. So, I’m going to give him the phone. I miss you. Call me back later, okay?” “Okay. Talk to you later, babe”. I smile and hand the phone to Carl.
I look over at the clock. 5:00. I pull on Carl’s arm. When I have his attention, I point at the clock. “We have to leave by 5:30, don’t we”, I ask. “No. Our game isn’t until 7:30. We leave at 6”, he tells me.
I wander into the kitchen, where Erica is baking. “What are you making”, I ask her. She smiles. “I’m making something for Carl. It’s something he’s been craving for two weeks. Oatmeal cookies”, she replies. I smile a little. “Good. Carl will love you for it”. Erica smirks. “He loves me already. What you meant to say was, ‘He love you more for it’”. I help Erica out by getting the ingredients for her. Finally, we have the cookies in the oven. I hear Carl saying bye to A.J. He comes into the kitchen and hands me my phone. “Something smells good. What did you make”, he asks. Erica looks at him. “Oatmeal cookies. You’ve been hungry for them the last two weeks”. Carl smiles and hugs her. “Can I have them now”, he whines. “No, Carl. They’re baking in the oven. If you have a good game tonight, you can have them when the game is over”, Erica replies. I smile and hug Carl. “He can have one now. But only one”, I say, looking at Carl. Erica frowns. “He’s been wanting them for a long time now. You made them just now. It would be awful for him not to have one before he leaves”, I say. Erica finally agrees. “They’re almost done. Go and get dressed, then you can have one”, she says.
Erica and I watch him hurry off. “There’s something about him that friends and family are attracted to”, I say as Erica takes the cookies out of the oven. “I agree”, she says. I pretended to get mad at her. “Not that he’s cute”, I say. Erica smirks at me. “Well, that is one part of why I got attracted to him”, she says. I nod. “I know. But that’s not all”, I say. “I could think of some other things: he’s nice to his siblings, he was the first Swede to play for Michigan, he’s funny, he puts people at ease, he’s good with kids”. “I agree. But girls, fan girls, wouldn’t see that. They would like him for two reasons only: he’s cute, and he’s famous”, I state. Erica agrees.
I hear Carl’s footsteps on the stairs. Erica and I both turn around. I run towards him. Erica stays where she is. “You look good in a suit”, she says, trying not to laugh. Carl glares at her. “Thanks. Can I have one now”, he asks. I run out of his arms, grab one, and run back. He smiles and runs a hand through my hair. “Thanks. Jeez, these are good”, he says, eyes wide. Erica smiles. “I know you love them. Every time I come over you want me to make them”, she says. Carl winks at her. “Is it too much to ask my girlfriend to make me some over her famous oatmeal cookies? I sweat playing hockey just to entertain her”, he says.
Right now, I’m sitting in my seats at Madison Square Garden. This is the home of the New York Rangers. The place is beautiful. It’s one of, if not the oldest, hockey arena in the U.S. Every time I come here, I get chills. I’m sitting in a legend. I look up at the ceiling. Up there are where the banners of Stanley Cup past and numbers of famous players live. I look at the scoreboard, where the countdown clock is. Twenty-three minutes until game time. Or, as I like to say, until, the players come out to start the game. Warm-ups are finished, and there are no players on the ice. There is enough time for me to go back in time, or have a flashback, to Carl’s first NHL goal. I nudge Erica. “I’m going back in time to Carl’s first goal in the NHL. Shake me if I don’t come back in time for the players to come out, or do it when they’re ready to have the players come out”, I say. Erica nods and smiles. It was in the second period, and I had a feeling something exciting was going to happen…
I’m sitting next to my boyfriend, A.J. It’s in the second period, and the Rangers are winning one to nothing. “This is going to be the period where Carl gets his first goal”, I tell him. A.J smiles. “He has to get his goal sometime”, he agrees. My brother, Carl Hagelin, had his first NHL game two days ago. He’d gotten an assist in that game, but no goal. Now, as I see #62 hit the ice, a feeling of excitement rises in my chest. “Come on, Carl”, I yell as my brother flashes by. Both of us rise in our seats. “I can’t sit down. It’s too good”, I tell A.J. He smirks at me. I quickly turn my head back to the ice. I see Carl shoot once, miss, find the puck, and shoot again. GOAL! I jump up and let out a loud scream. A.J and I hug. Tears fill my eyes as I watch Carl celebrate with his teammates. “He finally got it”, I exclaim. A.J hugs me. “Yes! He got it”, he whispers into my ear. I watch as Carl skates towards the bench. He looks serious, but I know that he’s happy on the inside. Carl goes slow as he skates to where we are sitting. He looks up and finds me. I wave at him, smiling a big smile. He waves back. I know people here won’t mind if I run down to bottom of the stands for a minute. I do it and press my hands against the glass. “I’m so proud of you, Carl”, I yell. He skates to where I am and puts his hands where mine are on the glass. I watch him mouth “I love you” to me. I smile and he smiles back. I hear his teammates yelling at him. I back off and watch him skate slowly. I run up a couple steps, turn, and smile at him before running back to my seat.
Erica shakes me back to reality. I look at her. She points at the bench. “They’ll be coming out soon”, she says. I say two “Hail Mary’s” and an “Our Father”. I’ve just finished praying when the New York Rangers start to come out. I cheer at each skate that touches the ice. Both Erica and I cheer the loudest when we see #62 come out onto the ice. I hold up my “#62 Forever” sign that I made. Carl skates slowly as he comes to where we are sitting. I point at my sign and smile. He smirks a little, then gives us the thumbs-up. He skates away. I nudge Erica. “The flash wearing the number 62”, I say. Erica laughs a little.
The opening face-off has just been won by us. I see a flash of black and white. I manage to spot the number: 87. “Crosby”, I whisper to Erica. “Whoever the stars on our team are, they’d better watch out for him. He always tries to go after them”, she says. I nod. I turn back to the ice and see a 19 skate by. –Richie- I thought. I can see Crosby following him. Richie turns away from Crosby and heads up the ice. I remember Richie’s words from practice this morning: “I’m going to score a hat trick”. I nudge Erica and whisper Richie’s words into her ear. “I hope he does”, she says.
I watch as one of our players steals the puck and skates up the ice. He shoots and… HE SCORES! I jump from my seat and pump my fist. I hug Erica. “I couldn’t see who the player was. Who was it”, I ask. Erica looks at me, surprised. “I’m surprised you didn’t see the number. It was Carl”, she says. I let out a yell and hold up my sign. I watch as they skate back to the bench and do their thing. Carl passes us, then turns to look at us. I’m smiling like crazy. I point at my sign. “This is for you, Carl”, I yell, pointing in his direction. He does his special wave. Erica looks at him. “Nice goal, hot shot”, she yells at him. I can see him smirking a little. He heads back to the bench, and play resumes.
Carl turns away from Crosby and sprints up the ice. He can hear Crosby yelling at him from behind. He stops and turns to face the Penguin’s captain. “What are you yelling at me for? If you want to catch up with me, why don’t you work on your speed a little more”, Carl asks. Crosby looks at him. “If we lose this game to you guys , my sister will make sure your sister loses hers”, he says. Carl levels his blue eyes at him. Then, he turns and skates away.
There is a break in the action. We are still winning one to nothing. I’ve been surprised that Crosby hasn’t scored any goals yet. Usually, he is tearing up the ice. “Look. Crosby is heading for Carl”, I whisper to Erica.
“Why do you keep following me”, Carl snaps at Crosby. “I want to know why you’re stopping me from scoring, but none of your other teammates are”, Crosby replies. Carl smirks. “They have been stopping you. You just haven’t noticed”, he replies, his eyes flashing dangerously. Crosby skates a little closer. “My sister is leading the league in scoring. What has your sister been doing”, he asks. “My sister has been giving her teammates chances to score. She has been using her speed to get assists. She doesn’t have the puck every single minute of the game, unlike you and your sister”, Carl replies, anger in his voice.
It’s the third period, and Carl’s goal is still the only goal in the game. I hope Richie can produce some more offence. I can see him on the ice. “Look at Richie. He’s trying to get away from Crosby”, I say to Erica. “Crosby has been trailing him all game”, she replies. Suddenly, Crosby slams Richie into the boards. I wince, hoping and praying that he’s okay. “He’s fine. Look, he is getting up and is trying to go after Crosby”, Erica says. I can see someone holding Richie back. “Can you see who’s holding Richie? Whoever it is, he looks to be Carl’s size”, I say. Erica squints. “No, I don’t think that’s Carl. It might be Step”, she whispers back.
The game is over. Richie got a hat trick, like he promised he would. Rangers won, four to nothing. Erica and I are waiting in the parking lot for Carl, Step, and Richie. I spot them. “Erica, I can see them”, I say, pointing. She smiles. Carl is the first one to appear, Step and then Richie follow. I climb out of the truck bed and run towards Carl. “That was a good game, Carl”, I say as he picks me up. “Well, Richie told me to get a goal. So I did”, was Carl’s reply. I hug him, then he puts me down. I run to Richie. “You did it! You scored a hat trick”, I exclaim as I jump into his arms. He smiles and spins me around. “You think I wouldn’t get a hat trick? I wanted to after Crosby purposely smashed me into the boards”, he says. I smile. “Crosby was just being Crosby. He always goes after the other team’s best players. That’s why you have to watch out for him”, I say.
Step came over to our house. I greeted him with a smile and a hug. “Hi, Step”, I say. “Carl invited me to your game. Am I allowed to come”, he asks. I smirk at him. “Of course. I come to your games. Have you seen me play before”, I ask. Step thinks for a minute. “Not in a real game. You practice with us sometimes. I’d say you’re almost as fast as Carl is”. At that moment, Carl came over. “If Lizzy wants to be as fast as me, she’ll have to work pretty hard. I’m the fastest player in the NHL”. To some people, he might be bragging. But, I know my brother and I know it to be true. He won the fastest skater competition before the NHL all-star game this year. I shove his shoulder. “Carl, everyone knows that. You’ve said that to me about 20 times the past two days”, I tell him. My brother wraps me in a hug. “Richie and Erica can come to your game”, he says. I smile. “Good! You and Erica are the only ones who have seen me in a real game before”.
Tonight, before I go to sleep, I think about all the things that happened today. Carl’s game, meeting Erica for lunch, saying the rosary twice, going to practice, watching Carl at Michigan. I must say, today was quite busy. And, it was a good day. I kneel next to my bed. “Thank you God for a lovely day. And what was the other I had to say?”…
Carl stays up for a little bit longer. He curls up on the couch with Erica. They’re watching DREAMER. Erica looks up at him. “I love this movie. Isn’t it one of Lizzy’s favorites”, she asks. Carl smiles at her. “Yes. She always cries”. Erica rests her head against his shoulder.