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An Open Letter to My Hockey Sweater

CHARLOTTE, NC -- This sounds like a weird thing to write. I know.

But, after all of the tears and the sweat and the cheers this season, there's one thing that's been through it all with me. My sweater.

I got my Jonathan Toews sweater for Christmas this past year, and it was really all I asked for. It was the number one thing on my mind, and I wanted it more than anything else. I really wish my parents got a picture of me opening it, because I don't know that I've ever been so happy to open something in my life.

I wore it the next time the Blackhawks played after Christmas, and though they lost, I was happy to at least be a part of it.

Then, things got crazy. From December 29th to January 19th, I wore my sweater every single time the boys played. And they won every single one of those games. I took it as my sweater being lucky, and as a naturally very superstitious person, the more they won, the more anxious I was to put my sweater on. The first loss to Tampa Bay after that 12-game streak sucked. It was hard--I really (and stupidly, probably) thought my sweater was lucky, that it could somehow help them win, even if I was hundreds of miles away.

It was then that I realized how statistically impossible it would have been for me to expect them to win every time I wore my sweater. It just couldn't happen. So, I still wore it every game, and since Christmas, I have worn it every single time they have played--except one night when I was at work and couldn't wear it during a Stars/Blackhawks game (that they lost anyways).

So, this is to my hockey sweater.

It's seen me at my best, cheering and dancing and singing 'Chelsea Dagger' until I turned blue in the face, but it's also seen me at my worst. It's seen me frustrated, crying, yelling, turning the TV off and slamming the remote on my bed. I've ripped it off a few times and thrown it onto my desk, or into my laundry bin, and sadly, once on the floor (by accident, mind you). And every time I've gotten angry and thrown it, I've picked it back up and put it away nicely.

It's seen me through thick and thin, and though I've only had it for a few months, it's already showing a little wear because of how often it's worn. But, that makes it even more special. Whenever I'm packing to return to school from a weekend home, it's always at the top of my laundry bin, folded nicely though everything else is just tossed in. That's because it's the most important.

So, thank you, to my hockey sweater, for giving me a great season. I can't wait to pull it back on in October and do this whole thing again.

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