Week 15: "Thomas"

My legal first name is "Thomas." I do not call myself Thomas or ask others to do so; I like the name for it's reasons, but its not something I like more than my nickname. I have been known as "T.J." or "Teej" all my life, for no specific reason. Thomas is also a older kind of name I suppose, it doesn't have a flare like my other names do. The purpose of naming me Thomas was to pay respects to the man that raised my old man. A year before I was born, my grandpa Thomas Orville Morgan passed away due to heart cancer. My dad, wanted to remember his dad and carry on his legacy by passing his first name to his son (that's me).

I never met the man whose name I carry, yet the most vivid memory I've been told about him was when he cried after the Denver Broncos won their first Super Bowl. You see, my dad's family and I are dedicated Broncos fans. Orange is the color of our blood, and we are ride or die. With that said, my grandpa had to sit through the worst years of the Broncos history and before they finally won it all, he and my family watched them lose the big game 4 times before. You can understand why their first world championship met not only so much for my grandpa, but our family, Denver, the game itself, etc.

Today, according to my dad, I carry more than just my grandpa's first name. I am as funny as he is, as creative, and as big (if not more) of a Broncos fan than he was. Instances where I would flip through the family picture scrapbook, I noticed how big of glasses my grandpa had. I thankfully didn't get those genes; however, the size of his glasses matched his personality. There have been many other stories told to me about how great of man he was, the aftermath after Super Bowl 32 is very special to me.