Only one Stevens family member has ever watched Jeopardy religiously, the rest of us have only watched it with her. Grandma did a lot of stereotypical old-person stuff though. Along with watching her fair share of Jeopardy, she played a lot of Scrabble, baked a lot of pies, and tap danced. She was an amazing woman; maybe the strongest person I’ve ever known.
Marie Stevens, my grandmother, passed away on October 18th. It all happened within a week when the doctor’s found two huge tumors in her lungs/esophagus that she had been trying to hide from family and friends. It hit us like a truck and our family will miss her greatly.
Dad, the most amazing father in the world, had many strange ways that he wanted us to remember Grandma. And one day it was that “At 4:30 we’re going to watch Jeopardy as a tribute to Marie”… he only told us about eight times throughout the day. We were all set and ready to watch when the show begins. They started to introduce the contestants and Dad reminds us that “This is for Grandma”…
[Jeopardy announcer starts talking…]
“Joe Blahblahblah, reigning champion who is kicking butt and taking names… he’s almost won a million dollars… recession whaaaaat?”
[contestant number two appears on screen.]
“Jim Stevens from Blahblah, BL… yada yada yada…”
I don’t really remember where this guy is from or what he does because at this point my whole family is looking at each other in confusion… JIM STEVENS… are you kidding me? That’s my dad’s name. So of course dad’s freaking out with the biggest smile on his face that I’ve ever seen. I have to admit, it was a lovely coincidence. So then Jim Stevens beats the reigning champion by $1 and has been victoriously appearing on the show since then.
So today, don’t call the Stevens household between 4:30 and 5. We’ll be rooting Jim Stevens on in what my father now calls, “The Best T.V. Show Ever”.
…and that’s why my family watches Jeopardy.
wull hay. 