A Lions win and a happy teenage son

My son's at that age in which nothing seems to impress him. No matter the surprise, gift, or event, we usually get a flat, stoic face, a lifeless shrug, or some good, old-fashioned teenage sarcasm. I long for the days when his favorite book, read to him a hundred times, used to excite him every night before bed, when he'd run to us when we picked him up from daycare, when he oohed and aahed on Christmas morn and shrieked every time "Carol of the Bells" came on the radio. C'est la vie. Kids grow up faster than we parents do. Last week, however, I finally really wowed my teenage son. He actually said "this is awesome" multiple times. I did it. Success as a dad. Last Thursday, my brother and I took my son to the Lions-Packers game at Ford Field, my son's first trip to see the Honolulu blue in action live. Hearing that the lines had grown hours-long to get in to see the suddenly dominant Lions play, we drove from my brother's place in Battle Creek to Detroit very early, walking into the stadium shortly after the doors opened. We got there early enough to get free swag. My brother and I picked up Lions bucket hats and my son earned himself a vicious-looking poster of the kneecap-biter himself, Coach Dan Campbell. We got there early enough to pick up some cheap hot dogs and a Sprite for my son and a couple of cheap beers for my brother and me. And we got there early enough to watch the players warming up on the field. I got my first "this is awesome" from my son. On our seats when we arrived were bracelets with little devices that lit up in different colors. The stadium controlled the devices and, as the show was about to begin, the lights in the stadium went out and the bracelets lit up, casting the whole place in a dazzling display of flickering blue and white. I got my second "this is awesome." Then Chad Smith, the drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, performed with the Lions drum line. Another "this is awesome," and we hadn't even gotten to the "Star Bangled Banner," yet. It certainly helped that we picked a thrilling game to attend. The Lions pummeled the Packers on Detroit's opening drive for a touchdown, then our defense stuffed the Packers' opening drive, forcing a punt. The stadium roared, our bracelet lights flickered. Then the game got interesting, with several dazzling power runs and long passes by both teams and repeated lead changes. My son really got into the game, cheering for our offense, booing and screaming when the Packers had the ball, really playing the role of the 12th man and helping the rest of the stadium to force the Packers to use an early time out and forcing one false start. "This is awesome," he said again. The Lions went for it on fourth down five times, converting four, including a crucial fourth down with seconds to go, the score tied. That conversion guaranteed we'd put the game in the hands of our can't-miss kicker, Jake Bates. With time expired, Bates drilled it through the uprights and we won the game, clinching our first back-to-back playoff berths since the 90s. "That was awesome," my son said, happy his first game had been such a thriller, that the Lions had won, that he'd gotten to watch them clinch the playoffs. I beamed. A Lions victory. My son happy. All was right with the world. I did it. We drove back to Battle Creek after midnight, our voices hoarse from all the screaming (it would take two or three days for our voices to return to normal), talking the highlights of the game the whole way. When we reached my brother's house around 2 a.m., we each ate a slice of cold pizza out of the fridge and then went to bed. I lay in my brother's guest room as content as I'd ever been. We want so many things as fathers. We want our children to be safe. We want our children to grow up and live more successful lives than we lived. We want them to avoid every mistake we ever made. We want them to contribute to society. We want them to marry and procreate, to make us grandfathers. But, most of all, we just want them to be happy, and we want to play some small role in that. I and my Detroit Lions accomplished that last week, and that's a memory I'll have and cherish the rest of my life. Go Lions! Justin Hinkley is publisher/editor of The Alpena (Michigan) News.