As a fan of the National Football League, I eagerly await each year’s Super Bowl. Of course, I also hope beyond hope that my beloved Chicago Bears will be in it.

I’m still waiting on that, but this past season gave me more hope than I’ve had in years. I know the rest of the Chicago fan base would concur.

Still, in a lot of ways, being a female football fan puts me in an awkward position when it comes to being able to watch the game itself.

For a lot of people, the Super Bowl is an opportunity to get together with friends to eat appetizers and junk food that perhaps they don’t eat on a regular basis. (Or maybe that’s just me.)

Some people are excited about watching all the commercials, since some of them are hilarious. Some are poignant, but most are made with more money than is spent on advertising the rest of the year.

Still other people are looking forward to watching the halftime show. Usually, the NFL does a pretty good job of getting someone to perform who appeals to a lot of people. For me, it’s usually someone who I’ve wanted to see but haven’t gotten around to. (The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar, I’m looking at you.)

Yet, I’m one of the few who wants to see everything: the ads, the show and, most of all, the game.

Years ago, Tony and I would go over to another couple’s house for the Big Game. They knew that I’m a football fan, and they were too, so we would have a pleasant time. The food was good, and they liked the ads as well. Sadly, they often would poo-poo the halftime show, so I’d kind of be out of luck. But two out of three wasn’t bad.

I was with them in 2008, the year that the New England Patriots played the New York Giants and were trying to have a perfect season. I knew that the Giants defense was formidable. Despite the Patriots being heavily favored, they lost … just like I told everyone who would listen.

That was also the year one of my favorite performers, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, played at halftime, which I only got to see part of. Sigh.

After a while, Tony and I were invited to an actual Super Bowl party. The problem was, I was expected to watch a movie with the girls, who didn’t want to see the game. Well, that wasn’t going to work for me, so I stayed with the boys. Only problem was, they weren’t a bunch of football fans, either, so I missed a lot of the game, most of the ads and the entire halftime show.

The year that Beyonce performed, I was so excited to see what she’d bring. Sadly, though, my crew wasn’t interested. The year with Bruno Mars? They weren’t up for that, either.

Despite all of that, it was a good time, just not exactly what I had hoped for.

The past decade or so, I’ve found myself at home for the Big Game. A lot of that has to do with the fact that my husband was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2015. He’s much better at home than anywhere else.

In the early years, Tony was still able to understand and participate in the “festivities” that I have tried to continue. I simulate a Super Bowl party by preparing a bunch of appetizers and snacks that we graze on throughout the evening.

Now the problem becomes the timing of when we eat. I usually try to have us eating at the very beginning of the game so that I don’t have to miss too much. That also assumes that I don’t try to have anything that’s too elaborate in the preparation department.

These days, Tony requires a lot more help than in the beginning. So, I’ll be trying to feed him while keeping one eye on the TV. I usually miss some of the commercials, and I’ll have to go look for them the following Monday morning.

When the halftime show comes on, I turn up the volume on the TV and try to settle in to take it all in. Sometimes I “get” it; other times I do not. However, I appreciate the opportunity to see something new and find out what all the fuss is about. That was the case this year with the Bad Bunny performance.

Tony needed my attention during the evening, and that was OK. Why should this year be any different? I’m going to have to miss something.

But oh, how I wish I could be allowed to watch the game … and the ads … and the show … just once.

• Joan Oliver is the former Northwest Herald assistant news editor. She has been associated with the Northwest Herald since 1990. She can be reached at jolivercolumn@gmail.com.