Sweet/Salty Love
Stories
LECTIONARY TALES FOR THE PULPIT
Series III, Cycle A
While waiting at the beauty salon, I was captivated by an article in People magazine (January 11, 1999). It showed a couple sporting the same bald hairdo, cuddling up together. The title pushed me to read further: "Winning at Home: When his wife got cancer, NFL linebacker Chris Spielman quit the game to help." I was intrigued.
At the time, Chris Spielman was a linebacker for the National Football League Buffalo Bills. When his wife Stephanie, who was recovering from breast cancer, needed him, he quit the team to be at her side.
Football had been Chris' life for 26 of his 33 years. His father was a football coach. He grew up in an Ohio town a stone's throw from Canton, home of the NFL Hall of Fame. He was in the shadow of football, and it became his life. In high school and college, he was a football star. As a professional, Chris was a four--time All Pro, one of the NFL's fiercest competitors who practiced and practiced. He was known to have slept nude with the air conditioner on to prepare for the brutal winter weather in Buffalo's Rich Stadium. He was at the top of his game.
But Stephanie was not at the top of her game. She had a growth on her breast, and during the surgery to remove it, doctors found a malignant tumor. The entire breast and 28 lymph nodes had to be removed. It was quite a blow to this former model who became a full-time mother when her children, Madison and Noah, were born.
When Stephanie's chemotherapy treatments began, Chris' football career was put on hold. He felt it more important to be with his one true passion: his wife. Football was important, but it was secondary to what was occurring. He wanted to support Stephanie not just in words, but in actions. So Chris was in charge of holding Stephanie's hand during her treatments, running the household, and ferrying the children to where they needed to be.
It was a whole different kind of ball game for Chris. He found that the same intensity that drove him to be a successful football player was what helped him focus on learning all he could about cancer and vitamins. The tremendous amount of patience he needed during practice was the same patience he needed for the children. And his passion for life was still the same.
Chris hoped to return to the Buffalo Bills. But while Stephanie needed him, he wanted to be there for her first. Chris had known the sweetness of the game as linebacker. He had known the sweetness of his love for Stephanie and their two children. He had also known the salty taste of cancer and recovery.
The haircuts Chris and Stephanie sported? Chris kept his hair shaved to show solidarity with Stephanie while she was undergoing chemotherapy. Hair could always grow back; precious moments couldn't. Chris had tasted the salt; now he recognized the sweet.
At the time, Chris Spielman was a linebacker for the National Football League Buffalo Bills. When his wife Stephanie, who was recovering from breast cancer, needed him, he quit the team to be at her side.
Football had been Chris' life for 26 of his 33 years. His father was a football coach. He grew up in an Ohio town a stone's throw from Canton, home of the NFL Hall of Fame. He was in the shadow of football, and it became his life. In high school and college, he was a football star. As a professional, Chris was a four--time All Pro, one of the NFL's fiercest competitors who practiced and practiced. He was known to have slept nude with the air conditioner on to prepare for the brutal winter weather in Buffalo's Rich Stadium. He was at the top of his game.
But Stephanie was not at the top of her game. She had a growth on her breast, and during the surgery to remove it, doctors found a malignant tumor. The entire breast and 28 lymph nodes had to be removed. It was quite a blow to this former model who became a full-time mother when her children, Madison and Noah, were born.
When Stephanie's chemotherapy treatments began, Chris' football career was put on hold. He felt it more important to be with his one true passion: his wife. Football was important, but it was secondary to what was occurring. He wanted to support Stephanie not just in words, but in actions. So Chris was in charge of holding Stephanie's hand during her treatments, running the household, and ferrying the children to where they needed to be.
It was a whole different kind of ball game for Chris. He found that the same intensity that drove him to be a successful football player was what helped him focus on learning all he could about cancer and vitamins. The tremendous amount of patience he needed during practice was the same patience he needed for the children. And his passion for life was still the same.
Chris hoped to return to the Buffalo Bills. But while Stephanie needed him, he wanted to be there for her first. Chris had known the sweetness of the game as linebacker. He had known the sweetness of his love for Stephanie and their two children. He had also known the salty taste of cancer and recovery.
The haircuts Chris and Stephanie sported? Chris kept his hair shaved to show solidarity with Stephanie while she was undergoing chemotherapy. Hair could always grow back; precious moments couldn't. Chris had tasted the salt; now he recognized the sweet.
