10: Jacksonville

As the holiday season progressed, my anxiety stayed up some, but it was manageable. Despite my heart being in good shape and no signs of Covid, I was still quite nervous about going to Jacksonville.

My A1c was also doing well, but I was still trying to maintain good eating and exercise habits through the holidays. I had the occasional sweets because it was Christmas, after all. You have to indulge in some of the good things in life during the holidays, like Little Debbie Christmas Tree cakes! Those are the absolute best!! I also had some ice cream and chocolate chip cookies, but I did my best to limit the amount of such things and not overindulge.

Despite all of the happiness, I was still worried about Jacksonville. I didn't want to go, which was the fear consuming me. The trip to Jacksonville was our big Christmas gift for the family and a huge one for Abby, as she is a big-time Jaguars fan. But something else happened that was unexpected and now made the trip that much more interesting.

The college football bowl season was about to commence, and Clemson was being selected to play in a bowl game again. During the season, my family and I were set to attend the North Carolina vs. Clemson game in November, but ticket issues arose. Although I ordered the tickets plenty of time for the game, I had yet to receive them and had to cancel. We were refunded our money, but disappointed. But right as they started to make the selections for the bowl games after the conference championships had ended, I looked at one particular game. The Gator Bowl was slated to be played in Jacksonville on December 29, the same weekend we planned to attend the Jaguars game on December 31.

Would it be cool if Clemson played in the Gator Bowl? What would be the odds that both the college and professional teams my daughter loves would be playing in the same stadium, in the same city, on the same weekend? I knew it could happen, but there were other factors to consider. One, Clemson had a rough season by prior season standards. They were 8-4 and struggled quite a bit earlier in the season. They also finished behind Florida State, NC State, and Louisville, which meant some other teams could land the spot. I didn't know if it would work out, but I hoped it might.

Then, I received the notification of Clemson vs. Kentucky in the Taxslayer Gator Bowl on Friday, December 29, 2023. I couldn't believe it but knew it was meant to be. Despite my fears, I bought tickets right away and knew then we were supposed to go to Jacksonville. When I told Leslie, her jaw hit the floor! We were so excited. As a family, we got to go to our first college bowl game and first NFL game.

Christmas day came, and we enjoyed sharing the kids' presents, but none were more well-received than the Jacksonville trip. In fact, we all got various styles of Jaguars jerseys for Christmas to wear to the game. This weekend was our big football weekend! We couldn't wait to go.

Ironically enough, Leslie was all for reducing similarities to the trip in July where Afib occurred. We were still leaving on the same day the Afib happened but at a different time of the month. We were also taking Leslie's Highlander this time and leaving the Ram at home. We thought a smaller car would be easier to maneuver around Jacksonville anyway. Lastly, Leslie was willing to drive down all the way if needed. We were also not going through Columbia, SC.

How can you get to Jacksonville and not go through Columbia, South Carolina? Well, you can choose the route through Augusta instead. That route was only 20 minutes longer than the Columbia route, showing it wasn't a big issue. Plus, we would see a more scenic route than driving so much on the interstates. That worked for me, and I sat back, taking in my surroundings.

I can't recall riding in the car's back seat in recent years while driving on a vacation. In fact, the last time I had done that was probably in high school. I've been driving my parents and family most places for decades now, so this was odd not being behind the wheel. My biggest concern was whether stress would open up issues if I drove down? When I was driving to Hilton Head in July, I was going about my usual driving routine. We went through Columbia, of course, and everything seemed fine. Then, I had that unusual feeling that initially seemed like premature ventricular contractions (PVCs), but they were incredibly packed together. I realized that it wasn't PVCs but my heart racing. I still have flashbacks of that moment sometimes, especially if I feel anything weird in my chest, like muscle spasms or even PVCs. It was terrifying to have your heart beat that rapidly for no reason.

But as we drove to Jacksonville, my pulse was fine. I was checking it every 5 minutes, but it was never rapid. An excellent, steady rate and rhythm. Normal Sinus Rhythm (NSR) which is what we all want. I took a brief nap, but Leslie needed my help navigating, too. Eventually, we made it to Jacksonville, which was a beautiful sight.

Once we were down there and I knew everything was fine, I drove us everywhere. I drove us to and from the stadium. I walked up the ramps effortlessly. I enjoyed every minute of it, especially the Clemson game. The Clemson vs. Kentucky game was insane, especially in the 4th quarter. It came down to whoever had the ball last would most likely win. Fortunately, when Kentucky had the ball one last time, Clemson intercepted to end the game. However, it was freezing that day. We were all freezing as we sat there watching Clemson attempt victory.

Because of the cold conditions of the game that Friday, we stayed in our room mainly on Saturday. I was worried about Leslie getting sick because she coughed her poor head off the whole day. We ordered food, stayed in the warm, climate-controlled comfort of our room, and watched bowl games and movies all day. This includes the Georgia 63-3 drubbing of Florida State, which relinquished Clemson from owning the worst bowl game loss in college football history in 2011.

By Sunday, Leslie felt some better and wanted to go to the Jaguars' game. After spending the time and money to come down to it, she didn't want to leave without going for some of it. I was still concerned, not about me now, but about her. I didn't want her or the kids to get sick from sitting in the cold, and I knew I would be driving back from Jacksonville to home. But everyone wanted to go, and I put it in God's hands to help me through the day. The Jaguar's game was fantastic, and as it turned out, it was the final game the team won for the 2023 season. At halftime, we left with the score 9-0, but Jacksonville went on to win 26-0 over the Carolina Panthers. That meant for the weekend, we saw both of the teams we pulled for during the games. That was a charming weekend and meant so much to my family, especially Abby.

The drive back was fun, too. As I drove around the same way we came, I could feel my anxiety reducing rapidly. I felt calm, at peace, and happy again. Going home on New Year's Eve, especially at night, does seem like an arduous task, but we left the game early so we wouldn't be pushing midnight to get home. As we drove home, we drove more on back roads than highways, and we saw so many houses with their Christmas lights lit up. I had not taken down our Christmas lights before we left, planning to do so after we returned. Seeing these lights on inspired me to turn our lights on as soon as we arrived. 

Once we were home, without any incident, I breathed a sigh of relief. I had overcome my fears of traveling. I felt more like me again. For this reason, 2024 would be a much better year than I could imagine. I just needed something to bring it all together. It was a fun final weekend of 2023, but I couldn't wait to see what will be in 2024.

Tune in for the next segment, 10: Resolutions.