The evening had turned cool with the first hint of autumn. The 2A Tioga Bulldogs were up against the Eustus Bulldogs, a 3A opponent.

Eustus took the ball first and threw an interception. Then in a break away run, Chase Evans, the friend’s son we’d come to watch, on the first possession for Tioga, ran for an 80-yard touchdown! The crowd (and mom and dad) went crazy. The kicker put it straight through the uprights and the Tioga Bulldogs led 7-0. The air was crisp with anticipation.

It was the first football game I had been to in years – the first high school game in more than a decade. The small town community wrapped themselves in Tioga Bulldog gear. [The small town community of Tioga was wrapped in Bulldog gear. Entire families came to watch. Children ran and played on the bleachers. The local announcer made lame, yet humorous, dad-like jokes. Everyone stood and the kindest prayer was spoken over the game, the players and the families. The national anthem was played by the home team band.

I was reminded of a gentler, sweeter time when community meant family and technology didn’t run our lives. And yet, I was also grateful for an empty nest that allowed me to watch a game once in the season, at my discretion, on a beautiful fall night. Grateful to be done with that time of life focused on growing kids and supporting interests.

It was fun to watch, to be a part of the evening. To cheer the players’ successes, to watch growing up in the making, and to see families wrapped in tradition and Texas passion even if the Tioga Bulldogs lost in the last quarter, 35-42.

I caught a bag of candy from the cheerleaders, sat on the hard metal bleachers and yelled out encouragement. Before it was all over, I wanted my own sparkly Tioga Bulldog t-shirt and was thankful for a sweet Texas evening wrapped in the season of Friday Night Lights.