10/12/2025
My day began at 5 AM. I'm not a 5 AM person, but today I needed to be in Stillwater, and at BPS by 8 AM. As usual my friend Aaron gave me a ride in his golf cart from the Stillwater Church of Christ at Duck and McElroy to BPS where I met up with the Paddle People. The entire time we were heading to the stadium, I told Aaron I felt like I was forgetting something, but couldn't figure out what it was. For some reason the Paddle People have to go in approx 2.5 hours before the game starts. It wasn't five minutes after I got there, I realized I had forgotten the mini paddles.
I can't tell you exactly how far it is between the two, but when you're "gimpy" to start with it feels like ten miles! When I finally made it to my truck Aaron showed up in his cart and asked me what I had forgotten. He gave me another ride, and thankfully I got back in plenty of time to give a couple of the mini paddles to the little boys in the first picture. On my way back to where the Paddle People were lined up, Jan kuehn, the lady in the second picture very politely stopped me and asked for a picture.. She and her husband Leroy were guests of someone in their suite, and were waiting for those gates to open.
During the ensuing conversation, (you know there would be one) she told me she paints pictures of Pete. She mentioned one in particular she had been commissioned to paint on a door a man brought to her. The door was special because it was the entrance to the restroom on his pool house. He asked her to paint Pete from the back as he was walking in. I'm attaching a picture of her card incase any of you need a Pete painted.
Some of these little ones were so cute, I've included multiple pictures of them. You can see their parents were equally excited.
I've also included a few of the other ones people asked for.
I usually take third quarter off and pass out fifteen to twenty of these little paddles, but today I only had ten with me, which meant I needed to be very selective of the ones I gave them to. I had given all of them away all but one by the time I walked from the inner part of BPS to the seating area.
I wanted to see if I could find some special friends in section 217, and as I walked looking upward trying to find my friends, a small girl I guess to be four or five, stopped me and said. "Can I have your autograph?" Stunned, shocked, amazed, mildly humbled, and frozen in place by her request, I caught the eye of her mother, who interrupted saying. "We were the people in the car who honked at you this morning. She thinks you are someone famous." I said. "Of course you can." I signed her paper in bold letters that spelled Paddle Pete, emphasizing each P. She was tickled to pieces, and showed it to her mom and dad. About that time there was a break in the action, and on the PA system they started playing an excellent two stepping song. I can't remember what it was, but it was perfect for the moment. I have no idea what got into me, maybe the abysmal quality of football the Cowboys were playing, maybe the heat, or maybe sheer exhaustion, but I asked her for her hand. She had no idea what I was doing when I took her hand and spun her around a couple of times before we two stepped side by side as I spun her around and around all the way across the next section and back. I felt kind of funny doing that, but as we were getting close to her seat I saw her mom and a couple of other cameras filming us. Now there's a memory for her to have, and for me to hopefully never see. It was about that time I noticed the section of guys who were shirtless. I think I heard that went national. Even though we stunk on the turf we relished the day in the stadium!
I also included a couple of pictures of some people who were bold enough to ask for a picture with me. I think the last two are a couple of nursing students who were there for the first time.
When the game was finally over and I was making my way back to my truck, a guy wearing a Freddie's Frozen Custard shirt, carrying a bag of food, began walking beside me. He asked if I had ever been Pistol Pete. I told him nope, but a very close friend was Pete 39, and his son was Pete 91. When I said Pete 39, and Pete 91, he said. "You mean Rick Wilson, and his son Parker?" Blown away by this freshman's knowledge of the Petes and their numbers, I asked him how he knew so much about the Petes. He said his family members were all from Perkins and were direct descendants of Frank Eaton. I was even more amazed that he said Frank Eaton when referring to Pistol Pete. For privacy purposes I won't post the young man's name here, but I will say he gave me a double cheeseburger when we had to go in different directions. I sat in my truck nearly dead from exhaustion and starvation, I ate that burger while I listened to the post game show and waited for the traffic to subside some.
I have no idea what time I got home, because I was close to being in a coma! Thankfully Travis and Mandy took care of my duties with dad and the things that needed to be done at the farm, and in dad's house. While Travis worked there she came to my house and let Heidi out of her kennel and played with her for a while. When I'm gone, and because I don't know if she will dig under the fence, she stays in an outdoor kennel with a cover and sunscreen on the west side.
I sat on the deck and threw balls for her to fetch until it was too dark and I was physically at my threshold of tolerance for everything.
No matter how bad they play or how hot or cold it is, I usually find something worth experiencing when I go to a game.
Unlike a football game, I don't know when this life will end.
I want to live it to its fullest! To meet as many people as I can, accepting that I may never see them again.
While I'm still breathing, I want to make as many of them as happy as I can, and leave them with pleasant memories of the moments we shared.
Go Pokes!
