In the early 90s there were those paper masks of Lou's face

that you could buy; I think they were sold at the bookstore as some kind of fundraiser for local charities or something like that?

Anyway, after a trip to ND, my Dad brought back a bunch of them for our whole family down in Houston. Whenever ND was in the Cotton Bowl, we would drive up to Dallas for New Year's (My Dad never missed a Cotton Bowl featuring ND in his entire life). For the Jan. '93 Cotton Bowl versus A&M, we took pictures of our whole family in our old Suburban heading up to the game, all of us wearing the Lou masks. After the game (which ND won handily thanks to the awesome Bettis-Brooks backfield), my Mom wrote a letter to Coach Holtz congratulating him on the victory, and thanking him for giving us Texas ND fans bragging rights among our Aggie family and friends (not to mention getting revenge for the horrible beat-down we had suffered to them in Jan. '88). Mom included a photo of us all in the Lou masks.

Lou sent back a lovely, personal letter thanking us for our support of the team and for keeping the ND spirit alive down in Texas.

The next year, ND was selected for the Cotton Bowl vs. A&M again, and this time, Lou sent my Mom a letter first! It said something like: "I certainly hope you're all coming up wearing the masks again - it worked great for us last year!" Of course she responded with another picture of all of us on the way to Dallas in Jan. '94, masks and all, after we beat the Aggies yet again. I think that they ended up corresponding a few other times after that as well. Mom always appreciated how he embraced the Catholic spirit of ND and talked openly about his love for Our Lady.

Many years later I had the chance to meet Lou in person, very briefly, and I mentioned those old photos - he immediately remembered them, and asked how my Mom was doing. I had to tell him that she had passed away a few years back, and he offered his condolences sincerely, and said he'd pray for her and our family. I had to move along the greeting line then, so just shook his hand and mumbled a teary 'Thank you,' deeply moved.

I've looked around for those letters over the past few years, but haven't found them. They may turn up at some point, but either way, I'm grateful for those interactions and for Lou's small but sincere connection to my Mom's memory.