I will stop at nothing....

So, most people know that Chad is a huge Colt fan and TN Vols fan (that is certainly no surprise), however, a lot of people may not know that I wrote several letters to the Colts organization and to Peyton Manning directly to request permission to send something to them to have Peyton sign for Chad's 23rd birthday. Well, about a week after sending the letters we received an 8x10 picture of Peyton Manning (in my favorite color jersey) autographed by the man himself! I was over the top thrilled. We received it on a Tuesday and I was determined (for about 16 hours) not to tell Chad and just surprise him when I flew to CA in May when he returned from Afghanistan and I met him as he got off the bus (after Katie got her hug and kiss first of course, I wouldn't be that selfish) and hug him and give him his birthday gift. Well, like I said, I was determined, but not successful. He happened to call me the very next night (Wednesday, November 23, 2010). I said guess what.... I got your birthday present yesterday, do you want to know what it is? Of course he said yes (not that it would have mattered, because I am sure I would have told him anyway). I told him I got him an autographed picture of Peyton Manning. He said at least 4 times, "That's crazy, that's just crazy". Then he said "How did you pull that off?" and just then our call dropped. So the next morning I took a picture of his picture and wrote him a moto letter (a moto letter is basically an email that you can send and it gets printed off and someone physically takes it to him. This gets to them a little quicker, but still takes up to 2 to 3 weeks to arrive to the guys) and attached the picture of his picture to it and sent it on it's way with the complete explanation of house I got it. Well, of course as most of you know he never got his moto letter and that was the last time I got to hear my baby boys voice, but what an amazing last phone call to ever have with your child. He was excited and surprised. My bonus boys have told me a couple of times that after he got off the phone with me he told them about his signed picture. Heheheheheheeee... momma bear really got him on that one. I would have loved to be able to see his face as I was telling him what I got him. I can truly see the smile, but the selfish side of me wants to see it anyway. I guess that will just have to wait until I can get to heaven. Anyway, I had started my thank you letter to Peyton the same day I sent Chad's moto letter, but got distracted and didn't get it finished. I wanted to make sure number 1 that he knew I received it, but I also wanted to make sure that I knew for sure he would love that birthday present and tell him how excited he was. Well, it is very uncharacteristic of me not to finish something I start, but I had placed my thank you note to Peyton in my bag I take back and forth to work and had forgotten about it. Then of course December 1, 2010 happened (exactly 1 week almost to the hour that I had my last phone call with him) is when the doorbell rang and we got the devastating news about our boy. So needless to say my thank you letter was rather late getting to Peyton. I explained what had happened and thanked him for the best last call a mom could ever get and I even included a couple of pictures of Chad (mainly so he would know I wasn't some crazy person stalking him (yes we know I am capable of stalking my kids), but to also let him see the person he made so happy). I never was sure if he received the thank you or not and I did not want this precious deed of kindness to go unnoticed so I reached out to the Indianapolis Star paper to hopefully write a letter that they might publish so that even if Peyton doesn't read that particular paper his community will know what a great thing he did. I know they love Peyton there and they know the kind of man he is and the family he came from, but I wanted to make sure that without a doubt there are just normal people like us that appreciate the kind of man he is. Okay, I know what you are thinking... Tami, they have people that print these pictures off in bulk and they probably stamp his signature on the picture. Well, that may be, but it really did look like his handwriting on the return address. Maybe it wasn't, but I'm ok with my fantasy idea. :) They can't promise it will get published, but the fact that they were even interested enough and willing to call me and get my verbal commitment to publish it just in case they did meant a lot. If this doesn't work I know there are many more newspapers in the Indianapolis area that just might write it and as most people know (especially my kids) momma bear doesn't give up easily. Just so ya'll know that I am really not as crazy as all this sounds I have even attached a picture of Chad's picture so you can see too. Now, close your eyes now that you have seen the picture and think about mine and Chad's last phone call and I dare you to tell me you don't have a smile on your face knowing how excited that baby was. I am pretty sure I just won that dare.... Love you all!