The Notre Dame Parable: Father and Son Find Victory in Defeat

Manti couldn’t help but hold his breath after last Monday’s blowout defeat in BCS Title to Alabama. By Shotgun Spratling/Neon Tommy [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Alabama blew-out Notre Dame 42-14 in last Monday’s BCS National Championship Game, ending a miraculous season for the Irish. That kind of ending was definitely not what star linebacker, Manti T’eo had hoped for.

But it was the kind of ending to a year my friend Tommy hoped for.

As much as a championship for his beloved alma mater would have meant to him, Tommy and his dad took on a challenge the last year I pray none of us will ever have to face: Cancer.

And they won.

Larry, the man with the perfect curve ball, lover and knower of all things baseball, for a year made due with a questionable future. Despite losing weight, his appetite, and his stoicism he remained a steadfast family man amidst great turmoil.

Notre Dame’s ascension back into a football elite, was more than a metaphor, it was a sign.

“The journey of the Irish this season helped us put a lot of bad stuff behind us – bad Notre dame teams of the past decade and a tough year for the family,” said Tommy after Monday’s defeat.”My whole life my pops has always been “into” at least one thing I’ve been into as well. Baseball cards, baseball, and even collecting pint glasses at a certain point. But more than anything else, we have shared our love for Notre Dame.”

Most Irish fans with that kind of fansmanship must have woken up with a wicked metaphorical (and perhaps real) hangover on Tuesday. But for Tommy, not the case.

For Tommy and Larry, the National Championship Game meant more than Notre Dame vs. Alabama.

Tommy, did the incredible thing, taking his father on a four day excursion to Miami to see the game in-person. It was a trip that moved me to tears, considering the way this year has gone and knowing the family. The last I knew they had traveled together just as father and son, came in the Summer of 1996, when the two lovers of America’s greatest past time, boarded a train and went to as many baseball games as they could in three weeks.

Quietly, and in classic Larry fashion, the hardworking former CHP officer, desired more than anything that his son attend a school like Notre Dame after high school.

“As I found out well after I started going to [Notre Dame], my mom told me that when I was born he told her that one day his son would go to Notre Dame. She thought it was a bit odd because he wasn’t a big Notre Dame fan, so she sort if shrugged it off thinking he was being weird like he sometimes is. And when it came time to apply to college, he didn’t say a word. But he was apparently overjoyed that I chose to go there. Call it Notre Dame magic, but that’s how it happened. Anyway, the game was not just a fun trip, but a way for us to keep connecting on a shared passion and also a way to unofficially celebrate overcoming the past year,” said Tommy.

As unofficial as the celebration was, I’m certain for Larry it meant the world. 2013 rang in renewed health, and an elongation of life that can now be spent with his son, daughter and his beloved wife Nancy– a longtime teacher.

Despite his alma mater’s defeat, Tommy sees the brighter side of things.

“The ironic big is that my dad’s recovery essentially coincided with the season,”said Tommy. “When we went to the game, tailgated, and soaked it all in, I think we both got a little teary when we got to our seats, saw the field, hugged and said that we loved each other.  We were happy to be there, both because the team went undefeated and because he COULD be there. And the team really being back to prominence with coach and program that is just beginning is much like my dad. He got a new lease on life and this is just the start of our new relationship as a dad and his adult son. Not dad and his kid, or his teenager, or his young adult son. It’s something new that we still need to figure out but it’s really fun. Coming home with a win would have been incredible, but just being there with my dad was 99 percent of it. Just like Notre Dame making the National Championship Game was 99 percent of the joy.”

Which is more than true.  1 percent of anything is the actual outcome, the 99 percent the steps it took to get there. For Tommy and Larry the steps to get here now, today, still alive, was an arduous one, a task prayed and fought for with sweat and tears, and a little Irish luck.