Bragging Rights

Growing up in a household of equal girl to boy ratio, I was exposed to a good mix of “sugar and spice” and “snakes and snails”. Whether it was summer, fall, winter or spring, racing was always in our blood and lives in some way. Over the years, my Dad and brothers raced in one form or fashion mini bikes, motocross, snowmobiles or cars, and the girls were always rooting them on in spirit, if not in person.

We are also fans of watching sports on TV, including Indy and NASCAR racing, and at any family gathering there’s always talk of recent or upcoming sporting events or races. This past weekend some of the family randomly got together to watch the Dayton 500. Besides me, the line up consisted of my Mom, Dad, brother, and nephew. We took our seats in anticipation of a great race, and as the cars lined up along the track and the normal pre-race “HOOPLA” began, everyone in the room was debating and rallying on who they were rooting for.

Spirited conversation filled the air as who would be the victor of the day’s race pick winner. There was talk of money, but in the end it would come down to bragging rights. The race got underway in the sunny Florida weather, and within a short time, my Mom’s driver crashed, and the pole winner moved into thirty ninth place.

Several other crashes occurred throughout the race, including my driver, that went from thirty-eight to finish fifth. At one time during the race I looked around and noticed that everyone had temporarily nodded off. What a sweet sight that was to witness, and my heart smiled. It didn’t bother me in the least, but what mattered was we were all together feeling warm, cozy and secure…just being a family.

In the end my Dad’s driver took the checkered flag in the closest Daytona 500 race ever…….but, more important than that, he won bragging rights. I teased he should have bet money, and he laughed. Oh, how I treasure days like this and need to take the time to have more….family means everything.