Mike loved competition. In every avenue of his life, he was a competitor. Whether it was in his youth playing baseball and basketball or, when I knew him, darts. He would argue a point, sometimes just for the sake of arguing. If he felt the need to compete, he'd bring up a controversial subject with whomever he was with so they could debate it. Even with me he did that from time to time. Fun, loving debates. My favorite was "I love you", he'd say. "I love you more", I'd respond. "Impossible", he'd say. We'd go back and forth a few more times before finally changing the subject. I think we both knew it was a draw. I remember watching him playing darts with his friend Greg. Mike was good at darts. Don't get me wrong. He was very good. And so was Greg. Those two would get going and Mike would either yell and curse if he was doing bad, or he'd do his victory dance when he did well. While he was very talented on many different levels, dancing wasn't one of them, so his victory dances were quite hilarious. He even participated in more than one "dance off" at our favorite watering hole. I remember being there one afternoon, watching football, and there were very few people in the bar. Next thing you know, somehow the topic turned to dancing and he challenged one of the regulars to a dance off. Nothing funnier than two men with no rhythm having a dance off. But Mike needed to win. That's all there was to it. And he made sure everyone knew he won, when, in all actuality, they both were awful. Whenever Mike would golf, it was the same thing. While golf is essentially a personal competition, he'd always make sure to brag if he out shot the other guy. When he didn't, however, he was pretty tight-lipped. That was usually my first clue that he didn't shoot well. Mike's life was over way too soon. There are so many things I wish he could have done before he died. Even if it were just the little things. Golfed another round. Shot more darts. Debated about instant replay in baseball. I miss Mike every day. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about him, long to be with him, cry about him, or curse the gods above for taking my beautiful husband. However, sometimes, all I want is to have one more debate with him - about anything - just so I could let him win one more time. |
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