Ole! Ole! Ole! Ole!

I love the World Cup. I hardly ever watch sports, let alone get excited by them, but I love the World Cup. It's not the cute guys running up and down the field that makes me enjoy the matches. I have a completely un-sports related reason.

My Nanna.

In 1998, I graduated from Saint Mary's and my Nanna came over for it and stayed with us for quite a few weeks after. Nanna was a sharp woman. Her eyes may have been giving out, her hearing was not that good and her knobby knees gave her trouble. But Nanna knew what was going on. She never missed a beat. She could talk knowledgeably about any topic. Including the World Cup.

That year, we watched a lot of soccer with Nanna. She told us what teams to watch for, who was favoured to win a certain match, what player was a star. We couldn't figure out how she knew all this since she couldn't read the newspaper. But Nanna knew.

Her favourite tea that summer was Lapsang Souchong, a nasty tea that no one liked but her. When a match started, someone would make her a cup of nasty tea and she would sit in her favourite chair and start telling us who was the favourite and which team should win. She was always right.

So this year, when a match starts, I will think of Nanna. I wish I had her insight to the game. I wish she was beside me, telling me who plays for which team and who to look for.

That summer, she also watched a lot of Jerry Springer with us. The show was still new back then, so it was a novelty for everyone. Nanna was a very proper woman. No swearing, no belching, no tooting, no vulgarities. But Nanna loved Springer. Secretly, though. We would watch the show, she with her tea. When the commercials started, Nanna would throw back her head, tutting.

"Can you imagine, Janie!"

"These must be actors, Hilda!"

"They can't be serious, Sally!"

When the commercials ended, she would shush us all and become enraptured with Jerry again. She would laugh at the guests, grab my arm and say "Imagine that, Sally!"

I am imagining, Nanna. I am imagining you beside me, holding my arm, telling me you love me again. I can hear you laugh and sing and hug. I can smell your perfume and your Laspsang Souchong tea. I'm watching the World Cup with you, Nanna.

xoxoSallyS