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The Longing Lab
Do you ever find yourself so fixated on longing that you can’t enjoy the present? Longing for a lover, an exotic destination, a lost loved one, or a past time in your life? The Longing Lab takes a deeper look at the science of longing and the culture that drives us to long for what we don’t have. You can expect insightful conversations with individuals uniquely qualified to talk about longing. Host, Amanda McCracken, has written or spoken about her own addiction to longing in national publications like the New York Times, Washington Post, & the BBC. The goal of the Longing Lab is to inspire individuals to make positive changes in their lives. Look for her book, When Longing Becomes Your Lover (Hachette), in fall of 2025!
The Longing Lab
Centenarian & CU super fan Peggy Coppom shares wisdom on love, loss, & living a fulfilling life
Episode 30 Centenarian and University of Colorado Super Fan Peggy Coppom shares wisdom about love, friendship, and prayer through stories she shares about her twin sister, Coach Prime, and her faith in God.
Since her family moved from the high plains of eastern Colorado to Boulder to escape the Dust Bowl in 1939, CU football mega fan Peggy Coppom has only missed three CU home football games. She and her late twin sister Betty attended over an estimated 2,500 CU sporting events in person in nine sports: football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, soccer, volleyball, track and field, lacrosse and women's tennis. Now Peggy is the one making history. This past fall Miss Peggy became the first FAN to receive an NIL deal. NIL, or name in likeness, allows athletes to accept money from businesses in exchange for using them in products or advertisements. CU Buffs Coach Prime (Deion Sanders) has become one of Peggy's biggest fans.
In this episode, (in order) we talked about:
*Her relationship with her identical twin sister and their decision to dress alike
*How Coach Prime has helped her deal with the grief of losing her twin
*What it felt like to be sung “Happy Birthday to You!” by the entire college stadium
*Her “secret” to longevity: moderation
*How she bounced back from breaking her hip and Covid this summer
*What she misses about Boulder from the past
*The importance of prayer and the prayers of your ancestors
*How her Irish-Catholic upbringing developed her love for football
*Her relationship with Coach Prime & her Alamo Bowl plans
*What she’s still longing for
*Why FOMO kept her from moving to Florida to marry a beau
*How you know you’re in love
Quotes
“She was still warm. She had just died. So, I whispered in her ear, and I said, ‘Betty,’ I shouldn't say this because it makes me cry, ‘We were together when we came into this world, and I'm here with you now.’”
“I felt so humble and so little and so amazed and blessed…To think that that many people were singing Happy Birthday, it makes me cry now. Undeserving, maybe is a good word for it.”
“Betty and I always said, ‘Pray and play.’ I think in one word I would say moderation…You can overdo anything. Even sleep, you can sleep too much. You can exercise too much. I have not set out to do that, but that's the way I've lived.”
“I miss going down Pearl Street and having home-owned stores of people you know, and businessmen that you know…The stores all were [owned by] people who lived here.”
"I don't think it. I believe it." (in reference to her faith in God)
“We were Irish Catholics, so naturally we cheered for Notre Dame…we knew when fall came and Saturdays came, it was football on the radio.”
“I don't feel like a lucky charm. I feel lucky.”
“I've had interviews ask me what one word I would use to describe him (Coach Prime), and [what] immediately came up to me [was] honorable.
“What I'm longing is for is for my kids to all be healthy and safe. And I pray for them mainly to get to heaven, at the age I am.”
“I never heard my mom and dad say a cross word for each other ever. And Betty and I both have said that was not a normal life for us to not ever hear our parents argue or anything. Because the first time my husband lost it, and it wasn't over anything I did,…I found out that somebody can lose their temper, and they're not going to get a divorce.”