Friday, December 30, 2005

What are friends for?

For those of you who mistakenly believe that Santa Claus doesn’t exist, you should have been at our home on Christmas morning. Tucked away among the trains, trucks and puzzles was a very tall and slender wrapped present from the Jolly Old Elf.

To the trained eye, the item was no mystery. It was a hockey stick. The mystery, though, was to whom it belonged. One look at the tag, written in red ink, showed the present was a gift to my son, Colin, 4, from "Santa-opoulos."

For those who know Colin, I’m not bragging when I say that he’s pretty smart. He, too, knew it was a hockey stick. Still, he tore off the wrapping paper with enthusiasm, trying to determine its ownership.

As the paper fell to the carpeted floor, it was clear that the game-used stick once belonged to Boston Bruins star Patrice Bergeron. Colin, having seen the name many times, even recognized the lettering on the shaft.

"Daddy," he exclaimed, "it’s Patrice’s stick! It’s Patrice’s stick! Santa brought me Patrice’s stick!"

Fast forward, now, to the day after Christmas. We find ourselves in Wilmington, Mass., dodging raindrops in the parking lot of the Bruins practice facility. A large, black truck pulls into a parking space. Bergeron hops out.

As Bergeron makes his way to the locker room, Colin’s voice rings out: "Hey, Patrice. Gonna sign my stick?"

I didn’t know whether to be proud or embarrassed. All I could do was laugh.

Bergeron, who has come to recognize the voice through their many meetings and the trading of autographed photos, stops in his tracks, turns around and smiles.

"Sure, Colin," he says.

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1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello Collectors

The story about Puckhounds dear 4 year old named Colin is so very, very true I was at the same Bruins pratice in Wilmington a few days ago, a few serious and true collectots were standing in the rain when Patice Bergeron pulled up in his SUV and at the time I belive Colin was playing or doing something, when Colin spotted his friend Patrice Bergeron Colin said calmly, and in his regular voice "hey Patrice are you going to sign my stick" you must keep in mind that at this time it was raining pretty good, Patrice stopped walking turned and said "sure Colin" and walked back to where Colin was standing, Patrice than signed his game used for Colin and Colin simply looked up at his fried Patrice and said Thank You, and Patrice said ok Colin. I have been collecting autographs for some time and I must be honest when I say I do get a little nerves when I have a have a hochey star like Patrice Bergeron sign a autograph for me, I was surprised that a 4 year old like Colin could ask a star like Patrice Bergeron for a autograph so simply and in manner that he wanted his friend Patrice to sign his stick, Colin is on the road to becoming a great collector like his dad (Puckhound aka/ Ron )is Colin has a very large collection in his bedroom and im surprised that he knows who the item he has was autographed by. May God Bless Colin !!!!! im going to hang around with Colin, he has some pretty cool friends....

Bruins Collector

2:26 PM  

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