Live In Reality

“Calm down, Len,” Taylor laughed. “Your knees are bouncing so hard.”

“Can you blame me?” she asked turning to her sister-in-law. “It’s all coming down to this!”

The Crosbys all sat in the family box waiting for the overtime for the Olympic gold medal game to begin. The U.S. and Canada were tied and it was all coming down to this.

“You’re American; shouldn’t you be rooting for the red, white, and blue?” Taylor joked.

“Hahaha, very funny,” Lenore rolled her eyes playfully. “But for today, I’m Canadian. Don’t tell anyone.” She gestured to her t-shirt that had the word ‘Canada’ emblazoned across the front in bright letters.

“I’m sure Sidney’s appreciative,” Trina patted Lenore’s hand.

“You guys have to be nervous too,” she countered. “I mean, your son is this close to a gold medal.”

“We’ve learned to deal with it,” Troy shrugged. “And I have a feeling-no- I know that you’ll need to too.”

Lenore nodded and looked down at the ice. The ref was speaking to a few of the players, one of them being Sidney.

“I guess I will,” Lenore said quietly.

The four sat in silence as overtime play began. It wasn’t long before the puck was moving down the ice towards the goal being tended by Team U.S.A.

It was as if every person in the arena was holding their breaths. The puck was passed to Sidney and in one, swift moment, he took a shot.

The puck sailed into the net and the buzzer sounded. Team Canada had gold and Sidney Crosby had secured the win.

Every Canadian supporter- and even some American ones- were on their feet screaming. On the ice, a similar scene took place. The boys in red and white surrounded each other, celebrating.

Lenore watched from above as Sidney and his team was awarded their medals. They wouldn’t be able to see him until they were in the locker rooms and he had dealt with the media, but that was okay, they had enough to see from where they were.

*****

Sidney stood talking to the media in the cramped locker rooms. He didn’t mind talking, he was much too happy. But he couldn’t help but wonder where Lenore was.

“Anything on your mind, Sidney?” the reporter asked.

He glanced at the woman in front of him and then let his eyes travel around the room again. Unlike the multiple times he had done it before, he found Lenore this time.

“Yeah,” Sidney nodded. “Can you give me one minute?” Without waiting for an answer, Sidney slid away and across the room.

“What are you doing, Sid?” Lenore asked as he grabbed her hand and led her back to where he was.

“Trust me,” he smiled.

“And who do we have here?” the reporter asked as Sidney placed his gold medal around Lenore’s neck.

She blushed as he kissed her cheek and looked down at her.

“This is Lenore,” he said looking her in the eye. “My beautiful wife.”

Lenore’s eyes widened in shock, just as the reporter’s did.

“Your what?” the woman asked.

“My wife,” Sidney repeated, this time to the camera. “I think I’ll let her introduce herself.”

Lenore looked up at him, unsure of what to say.

“Um, I’m Lenore Cham-Crosby. Sorry, have to get used to that,” she blushed. “I… I don’t really know what else. I’m nothing special.”

“What do you do?” the reporter asked. “Are you from Pittsburgh?”

“I’m CEO of my father’s advertising business and I run my own dance studio in Pittsburgh. And yeah, I’ve spent my whole life there,” Lenore hated being put on the spot.

But that didn’t matter anymore. Sidney had just told the world that he was married. There was no more hiding, no more anything. It was just them, married and together, ready to spend the rest of their lives together.

And that was all they needed.