CHAPTER 10:
The final day was well spent organising the evening with Dale Grdnic as he had been naive enough to put a story about my Super Bowl XL adventure in his book, “Glory Days.” He deserved some reward for that ordeal – writing about me, not the other fans.
The book talks about those great games, both from the team's and the fan’s point of view. Those games hold different memories for the players and the fans and Dale manages to tell their tales in a very interesting way.
Dale came over to the hotel to join the gang (pictured here) and I utilised the opportunity to maximum efficiency by getting him to personalise a couple of books that I had brought as Xmas presents for some special people.
As Pete was unfortunately not given credit for his picture used in the book, Dale made sure Pete’s copy mentioned who the photographer was.
We had a great meal when I tried to teach the waiter how to pronounce the wine, “Shiraz” correctly. A common language? You are kidding me!
It was our last night in the ‘Burgh and we made sure that we all enjoyed ourselves as it would be another ryear before we met up again. The Monday Night Football game was on in the background, but the conversation revolved around the Steelers and Pittsburgh.
Tuesday morning, Ed joined us for breakfast before we began the trauma of returning home with those two flights back to Heathrow.
When we arrived back in the UK, you will be glad to know that the boots fitted Jodie perfectly and her Christmas present began to be worn in November. Does everyone else’s children usually get their presents that early?
The second delight arrived the week leading up to Christmas. It was a letter from the Medical and Health Sciences Foundation thanking me for my donation of $450. The Steelers had given the Foundation all the money that Pete and I had paid for our tickets for the Celebration Dinner. I’m glad I follow such a great franchise that give back so much to their community.
The third great moment after the trip was when my neighbour’s daughters rang the doorbell to deliver the Steelers medallions that Mr. Beihoff had sent. They justifyably take pride of place amongst all my Steelers’ souvenirs. A true momento of the Steelers 75 th Anniversary celebrations that we were part of.
END OF STORY - UNTIL THE 2008 SEASON