Written by: Special guest contributor Alexis Bartek

Have you ever been to a Husker game before? Imagine a stadium filled with almost 100,00 people cheering for the beloved Cornhuskers. I was ecstatic to be going to the game, but even more so because I was going with my grandpa. A smile peeked across my face as I pictured walking into Memorial Stadium with him, hearing the screaming fans inside the stadium.

It all began that cool, autumn, Saturday. I was in the car with my mom and dad. We were heading to my grandpa’s place to pick him up. “Hi grandpa!” I squealed as I opened the car door. My mom grabbed my grandpa’s arm and helped him into the car. Today was going to be a special day with him. This was going to be our first Husker football game together, and could maybe be our last.

After driving twenty minutes to downtown Lincoln, we finally pulled up to Memorial Stadium. My eyes lit up as I started at the massive structure. A sea of red surrounded the stadium. I could not believe the number of people! I hopped out of the car and lent a hand to grandpa. He clutched my arm and we slowly crept along the sidewalk.

Once inside the stadium, we took an elevator to the tip-top of the building. As soon as I stepped out of the elevator, the smell of steamy hot dogs and buttery popcorn filled the air. We had extra special seats for this game called Club Seats. We got to sit in comfy chairs inside, but would still be able to watch the game through giant glass windows. “This is incredible!” Grandpa exclaimed.

TWEEEEEEET! The sound of the referee’s whistle rang through my ears. The game had officially started! I was hopeful that the Huskers would win, but our season was not off to a very good start.

“Our offense is looking much better today,” my grandpa whispered into my ear.

As soon as I was about to respond…BOOM! BANG!! Fireworks exploded into the air. TOUCHDOWN NEBRASKA!!!! The entire section of the Club Seats went nuts. The floor had come alive, buzzing and thumping, as feet continued jumping up and down. I looked around and saw strangers exchanging high-fives with one another and hoots and hollers rang through my ears. The energy in the room was electric.

“I’ve never experienced anything quite like this,” I thought to myself. There really is no place like Nebraska!

I peered over at grandpa and noticed a ginormous smile across his face. He was sitting down because standing was hard on his knees. But, he had just as much spirit and love for the game as any other fan in Memorial Stadium.

After a couple hours, the game was coming to a close. The Huskers had scored several more times, but so had the other team. The Huskers were up by just 8 points. There was five minutes left on the clock, but we wanted to leave a little early to beat the crowd. My grandpa hobbled to the elevator, and we began our descent to the bottom. As we parted ways with Memorial Stadium, my grandpa laid his eyes on me. “That was one of the best days I’ve had in a long time! Thanks for taking me with you,” he said.

I will always remember this Husker game. Since then, I’ve been to many more football games. But, none were quite like this one. Other games blur together, but that day I spent with someone I love, and we had a lot of fun together. Grandpa may not have realized it then, but the game was just as special for me as it was for him.