First report from this weekend....As I headed to the Cheerleaders Alumni Society banquet Friday night I didn't know if this arm would make it thru the weekend. Doc said I could go but to be honest, it had hurt all day, and had I not needed desperately to be there for this book and all the alumni bandsmen and cheerleaders coming back, I would have stayed home. Jenny graciously took off work to drive me, so with my arm riding on three pillows, and two vials of pain pills, we headed to the Longaberger House.

I made it through the two-hour cheerleader banquet and met some tremendous story contacts. (Thank you Torre Claus for inviting me as your guest!) But by the time I finished the alumni band social at 10:15 P.M., the arm felt like someone had put a stuck a bunch of knives in a blood pressure cuff, and then pumped it up on my arm. I don't like taking the heavy duty pain medication, but that night I took the maximum label dose!

Saturday dawned beautiful but as we approached the stadium, my rebellious limb was already throbbing. Would it hold up? After making the parking lot rounds, I picked up my pass and hit the sidelines just as the alumni band, more than 600 strong, made their ramp entrance. From ten feet away, I watched in awe as men and women, some in their seventies and eighties, marched with grit and determination to stay in lockstep and make crisp turns. Their appearance is truly one of the marvelous moments at the start of every season!

As I stood and watched, an amazing thing happened. By the time they were into Carmen Ohio, the pain was gone, the arm was quiet. I made it through the game with nary a problem. Today it is back to hurting again, but then, for three magical hours, it was sheer bliss! Was it the drugs? Medical science would say so. Me, I think it was just one more example of the magic of the 'Shoe.