Guilt: It’s a wonderful thing

Posted in Mom Stuff
by Shaun Bennett

I’ve never strayed during any of the relationships in my life, not even the “puppy love” ones throughout high school. Yet, I’ve got a strong understanding of the importance of the “guilt” gift men buy when they’ve hurt the special ladies in their life.

My job as a sportswriter often puts me out on the road. Sometimes it’s just a day trip to Detroit to see LeBron James drop 25 straight points on the Pistons in a double-overtime win.

Then there was the time that I was gone every weekend for a month and broke my 5-year-old daughter’s heart.

It started with my annual trip to Columbus to cover the high school state wrestling tournament, which normally takes place during the first weeekend of March. I am in Columbus from Thursday to Sunday each year for that exciting event, which apparently is tough for my daughter Stephanie to take.

Two years ago, I woke up on the final day of the tournament to see that I had missed a call from home. When I listened to my voice mail, I heard a message that no father should have to hear from their toddler.

“Daddy?” the small voice wimpered on the other end of the line. “I’m sitting on the end of your bed in your bedroom and I’m missing you. When are you coming home?”

The last line was said through near-sobs and the fact that she was crying was very obvious. I couldn’t even listen to the rest of the message. I immediately called home, and my wife assured me that Stephanie was feeling better. She had gotten hold of my wife’s cell phone and figured out how to access my number. My wife, Mary, hadn’t even know Stephanie had made the call that morning.

So when I arrived at the Value City Arena that morning, I went to the gift shop and bought my daughter a teddy bear. And an Ohio State pillow. And some ribbons for her hair.

It was a joyous reunion when I got home the next morning, and you couldn’t wipe the smile off Stephanie’s face when she got her presents.

But my problems had just begun. After the high school wrestling season wraps up, I immediately began covering the Ohio State men’s basketball team each season, and this was the season that freshman Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. were lighting up the scoreboards for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State made a magical run that season. You remember? A buzzer-beating 3-pointer helped the Buckeyes get past Xaiver in Lexington, Ky., an Oden blocked shot helped them down Memphis in San Antonio and then they finally fell to arch-rival Florida in the national championship game in Atlanta.

I was there every step of the way. Three straight four-day weekends on the road. Three straight weekends I had to find a way to mend a little girl’s broken heart.

I bought her a t-shirt from each site with the logos of the teams splashed across it. I got her a little toy horse from Keeneland in Kentucky. I picked up a snow globe – which caused me plenty of headaches at the airport – while in San Antonio. I also added to her Hard Rock Cafe pin collection by faithfully finding and eating at the franchise during the last two stops.

The “souvenirs” I picked up for her were the only thing that allowed me to walk out the front door each week, and they provided me a repreive upon my return from each trip.

So the “guilt” gift has become a tradition over the past few years. I went to the state wrestling tournament last weekend and called home twice a day to see how my little girl was holding up. She was laughing, eating, playing with her friends. One time she cut the call short because she wanted to get back to her video game on the Nintendo Wii.

But sure enough, as soon as I walked through that door Sunday morning, she was there with her hands out and her eyes closed … waiting for our special moment.

–Shaun Bennett