John Knopick: For the last few days, I've been dealing with this like weird emotional flatness where even things I know I should be excited about just weren't hitting me. Then Saturday night happened, my first ever Chicago Bears football game. I've been a Bears fan for over 40 years. So I was looking forward to my first ever Bears game. they were coming here to Nashville to play the Titans in the last preseason game. And you'd think I'd be really excited for it. You'd think I'd be over the moon, especially because it's gonna be my son's first ever NFL game and my wife's first ever NFL game as well. But the emotional flatness was threatening to take hold and put all of those proceedings into jeopardy, So we got to Saturday, and I was getting ready and still feeling kind of flat during the day. We took off, we drove up to the stadium. the Titans were trying to get us to purchase season tickets. we know you're Bears fans. Would you like to come to the Bears game on Saturday and be guests in our suite? And as we were walking by, we noticed there was some people standing outside one of their suites. And they had bears, lanyards, and things on. They noticed us. They smiled. They saw our jerseys. Because we were all wearing our bears gear, our orange bears jerseys. We looked like parking cones, but awesome parking cones. And we all had our bears jerseys on. My son had his. It said Bubba on the back. That's his nickname that my wife gave him. And he's got 67, because you know, kids in 6'7 these days. we made our way down to 633. we got into the suite And then this guy approaches us, and immediately the mood fell off. my wife mentioned to me after the fact, she's like, from the moment we walked into that suite, I was feeling judged. So he was like, he approached us. He's like, you know, hi, welcome. who invited you? Like, you know, basically asked us what member of the sales team was the one that invited us and got us the suite tickets. And then he pauses and then he's like, I hate to be that guy, but you're not allowed to wear opposing teams gear in this suite, I'm like Seriously? we were never told that. He's like, You should have gotten an email about that. You know, usually they send it out the day before. And I looked through my emails, I'm like, yeah, this one just came in less than an hour ago. He's like, Yeah, look down near the bottom in fine print. It says, Yeah, no opposing teams gear allowed in executive suites. So we were like, Okay, what do we do? We're wearing our Bears gear. They knew we were Bears fans. We were coming to the Bears game. I know it was Titans sales, but still. He's like, well, you're gonna need to go down to the team store on the main concourse, buy Titans shirts, and then come back up, and you'll be able to stay in the suite. We're like, okay, we complied, we're like, this is all we could do. You know, we're obviously not gonna leave. So I ended up coming out. like, you guys hang back, I'll go get us some shirts. And then a few seconds after I started making my way out of the door. My wife and son come out and they're like my wife's like, no, no, no, no, no, we're not gonna stay in there with you not being there. we're coming with you. And then as we were walking down the hall, I hear a gentleman calling out down the hall, Where's Bubba? Where's Bubba? And it was the gentleman That we had walked by earlier, and he was coming towards us, like actively asking, you know, where's Bubba? come to find out, his wife noticed my son's jersey, loved it, and pointed it out to him. And he stopped us and he's like, Hey, little dude, I got something for you. first off, nice to meet you. I'm George, they fist bumped, And he did a little hand magic. my son tapped his hand and he gave him this gold coin. I didn't know what it was at the time, but I thought it was so awesome because it had the Bears logo on it. I'm like, dude, that is so awesome. What do you say? my little guy's like, Thank you. he's like, We saw you guys, knew you were big fans, wanted to come out and give this to the little guy. now we're heading out, to the team store. Because they're making us change out of our bears gear. He's like, This is America. That's crazy. I'm like, Yeah, don't I know it. He laughed. He looked at his security guy by the door and like, can you believe this? And he's like, get the cheapest thing that they offer. I'm like, absolutely. And he's like, thank you for raising your little dude the right way, And I'm like, absolutely. we're lifelong Bears fans. we kept walking and Right as we were getting ready to go past a security guy, stopped me. Hey, hang back. George wants to talk to you. We're like, Okay, all right. And then he says to me the phrase that will stick with my brain. As long as I can remember, I'm sure. He's like, you do realize that George is the chairman of the Chicago Bears. My face went into full Aladdin genie from original Aladdin mode. Just like that. And I started shaking. And I'm like, no. I mean, I've been a lifelong Bears fan, but in that moment, I wasn't going through my Rolodex of Bears organizational personnel. All I knew was this gentleman was really nice to my son, gave him this really awesome looking coin, didn't know what it was. And so then George comes back down the hall and meets us over by the elevators. And goes, Well Was anybody else with you? I'm like, no. He's like, would you like to come and stay in our suite and hang out with us instead? Yes, please. So come on. And then he introduced himself to me. He's like, I'm George. I'm like, I'm John. Nice to meet you. lifelong Bears fan, 40 plus years. He's like, Thank you for your loyal support. And then we started chit-chatting down the hall. And he's like, you know, he introduced us to his security guards, to his team that was out there. We walk in that door to their suite, 180 degree difference from the temperature in that other suite. We were warmly welcomed. the McCaskey family was there, but descendants of the original George Hallis were in there also. they were all warmly welcoming us, saying, Hi, welcome. You know, great to see you. Hi, John. Hi, Joe. Hi, Bubba. And even his wife went around and fixed my son a plate completely unprompted, saying, Hey, what kind of food do you want? She was literally treating him like she was his grandma. And we were from the moment we got in there, treated like family. From all of the members of his family to all of the security staff to all the members of his team. We felt like they knew we were coming and they were embracing us as we got there. My wife was conversing With his wife, and they were talking, about her book and stuff. And it was just such a surreal experience. And in that moment, my flatness, went away. I kept talking about this with my therapist. And said, you know, One medication I take during the day shuts off the depression burner. One medication during the day shuts off the anxiety burner. But I don't want them to inadvertently shut off my entire mood burner and make me flat. that moment, we walked in there, jet fuel was poured on All the emotions. I was excited. I was screaming. I was clapping. When they scored touchdowns, All of his family, were singing bare down. We were all singing along, clapping, snapping. it was the most surreal, unbelievable, phenomenal, incredible. any other adjective you could think of, night. the entire time we were there, they didn't act like we were a burden. They didn't act like we were outsiders. They they acted like we were family members. Even his security staff treated us like we were family members. even one security guy was like, hey little man, your dad ever teach how to make a root beer float? then he slowly pulls the open door to the fridge on the bottom half, and there's a bunch of ice cream. Have them hook you up. that's the atmosphere. right after, we first got in there the security guy came to me, Hey There's a lady from the Titans out in the hallway that wants to talk to you. okay. she was very apologetic. She was really nice. she felt really bad about the experience we went through and everything. so I went back in and we enjoyed ourselves the rest of the night. after was all said and done, George graciously took a picture of my family and I with the field behind us, and then we all took a picture together. We thanked them so much and we left and then on the drive home, even though I had that incredible surreal experience, I started feeling the flatness coming back. So at least for those few hours, whatever wall was there wasn't there anymore. less than twenty-four hours after I released an episode about how much somebody can change your day just by showing up, just by listening, just by talking, somebody showed up for my family and changed mine. if this wasn't the universe screaming, hey, I heard what you talked about on your show Friday, I'm gonna literally have you experience what you just talked about. And it happened. Maybe sometimes we need a reminder that those energetic, excited, hyper feelings are still in there. We need that. Saturday night did not prove that everything's fixed. But it did prove that I could still feel the excitement, the happiness, the elation, the connections, everything. It's still in there. And right now, maybe knowing that is enough. I'm John Kenopic. This is the honest middle. And we'll keep figuring it out together. See you next time.