Broomball was on Sunday night. The games started at about 7:00pm, and there were three games in a row every night. My Dad was the Referee of record at broomball. Sure, there were other officials; but only my Dad carried the aura of authority so effortlessly, betraying his knowledge that he was more at ease being the Referee than anyone else was being a player.

That's my dad

Thanksgiving in Canada is in October (shorter growing season, you know), and it involves a Monday off rather than Thursday and Friday. Thanksgiving then was one of the few times I was able to watch Dad officiate, since it was a rare Sunday that was not a school night. I was never as excited as a sporting event as I was when I got to see my Dad run the show at Sunday night broomball.

Continued...