I went to the Albertville High football game tonight—the first high school game I’ve been to in a long time … maybe since I was in high school, back in the day. There’s a brand new stadium now and tonight was the first game there. It’s built on the site where the city’s first elementary school used to sit. It had long been left behind for a newer, bigger school, so they bulldozed it down. They took great care, however, to protect a huge old oak tree that had been there long before the old elementary school, and it now frames the goal post at one end of the stadium.

I met my sister, brother-in-law and nephew at the public library and we walked the block to the stadium. My nephew is a freshman, so as soon as we’d gotten in the gate, he disappeared so as not to be seen actually walking with his family. Two of my cousins were going in at the same time, and I don’t see them very often, so that was a treat.

The cheerleaders took to the field and led a cheer to get things started, joined by mini-me cheerleaders in their cute little outfits. The ROTC group attended to the flag and the band played the national anthem. Our band is one of the best in the state; they were in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade last year and have been a number of times before.

The sun set, the quarter moon began to glow as the sky turned from lilac to purple to black, and it was so beautiful in a hometown way, I got teary.

The game got underway, and it wasn’t really pretty at first, but the guys hung in there and had the momentum going into halftime. The band played some classic rock: Queen, the Rolling Stones, even a little Chuck Berry. Wow, it was great. Click here for a clip of the Macy’s parade last year.

I had chill bumps the whole time, and it was 80 degrees out.

Then in the second half of the game, the team rallied, led by the running of a kid whose last name is Hubbard and who looked like he might be 4′8″. We won 28-20. Go us! Go hometown! Go America! It was awesome.