Beech Tree News Network

The following story is one I wrote in a column for another paper years ago.  While I was watching the Kentucky/Notre Dame game Saturday night, I remembered it, and thought it might be worth re-telling.  In the original version, I changed the names of the main characters.  Time and circumstance have enabled me to be able to use their real names here.
    My sister, Lorrie, is a lawyer.  She is also an avid UK fan.  In the town where Lorrie lived when this story unfolds, was another avid UK fan.  People in the town called the man Junior.  Junior would be described as a special needs person in today’s PC vernacular.  Besides being a lawyer and a UK fan, my sister is also one of the most generous, compassionate people you will ever meet.  She has a special place in her heart for the downtrodden, and Junior often fell into this category, so Lorrie took him under her wing.
      Lorrie would sometimes take Junior to UK games in Rupp Arena.  In December of one year, she and Junior made plans to go to one of the games.  There were a couple of guys in the area where Junior lived who loved to jerk him around.  Once, they told him the town was going to hold a special birthday celebration for him.  When the day came and went without the promised celebration, Junior was crushed.  My sister was livid.  Unbeknownst to Lorrie, the guys had been at it again.  They told Junior that something really special was going to happen to him at this December game in Rupp Arena.
    When Junior met up with Lorrie at her office, he had two cardboard boxes full of presents.  When Lorrie asked whose they were, Junior told her they were for Rick Pitino (who was UK’s head coach at the time) and his family.  My sister was a bit taken aback, not knowing how they were going to get the boxes into the arena in the first place, let alone, if they were ever going to get them to Rick Pitino himself.  She decided to cross that bridge when she got to it.  On the way to the game, Junior told Lorrie about each present he had picked out for the coach and his family.  He was particularly proud of the present he had selected for the Pitino’s soon-to-be born new addition.  “I got a Baby’s First Christmas ornament.  It’s for a girl,” Junior said, “She’s gonna have a girl.”
    “How do you know she’s going to have a girl,” Lorrie asked.  “Did you see it on TV or read it in the paper?”
    “No,” Junior answered, “I just know she’s gonna have a girl.”
    Lorrie knew better than to argue with him.  He was just like she was in that area.  Once either of them got something into their heads, there was no turning back.  Little did she know, that trait was about to serve her well.
    When they arrived at the game, Lorrie persuaded Junior that it would probably be a good idea to wait until half time before bringing the boxes of presents into the arena.  She was a nervous wreck during the first half of the game, going over in her mind just how she was going to make this happen.  She felt added pressure, because Junior told her what the two guys had said about something special happening to him at this particular game.
    When the half-time buzzer sounded, Lorrie had her hands full convincing Junior to stay in his seat while she checked with some of the ushers about the best way to handle the situation.  She talked to the woman at the ticket gate where she and Junior had entered the stadium.  The woman told her there was no way she would be able to bring packages into the arena, and besides, once she went out, she wouldn’t be able to come back in.
    My sister, Lorrie, is one of those people who prays about everything, and this situation was no different.  “God, please help me, and just please don’t let Junior get his heart broken,” she asked.  (I’ve never been God, but if I were, I’d move heaven and earth to answer a prayer like that.)  Lorrie approached an usher at one of the gates and told him about her predicament.  The usher listened patiently then said, “You need to wait until the game is over.  Tell your friend to stay in his seat.  I can’t make you any guarantees, but if you get out, I can get you back in.”  That was good enough for Lorrie.
    When the final buzzer sounded, Junior was ready to get the presents.  Once again, Lorrie convinced him to stay in his seat while she got the packages.  True to his word, the usher was waiting at the door for my sister to let her back in with the presents.  He directed Lorrie and Junior to the ground floor and to a particular security guard.  The guard turned them away.  They approached another guard.  This one listened as Lorrie told of Junior’s love of the Wildcats and his admiration for their coach.
    The guard motioned them through, but my sister handed the presents to Junior and said, “This is your moment, I’ll wait here; besides, somebody’s got to take the picture.”  Lorrie watched as Coach Pitino shook Junior’s hand then hugged him and thanked him for his support of the team.
    “Me and Rick are buddies,” Junior told the two men who had teased him about something big happening to him at the game, and Junior had the picture to prove it.
    A couple of weeks later, Junior received a letter of thanks from the coach and his family.  It made the front page of the local paper.  And Mrs. Pitino…she had a baby girl.