The Little Things

Jim and I were both fortunate enough to enjoy sports both watching and playing. In winter we lived at the outdoor rink in the park next to where we lived. In summer it was the same park but but with baseball gloves. As a teenager I played competitive inter city baseball and that meant a fair bit of driving me around for games in different boroughs. Mom and Dad often came to watch the games and at one particular home game it was kind of drizzly out so they were both watching from a spot in the parking area where they could stay out of the rain but still watch the game. I managed to hit a home run in this game and the ball sailed out of the park into the weeds over the fence in right field. I was pretty pleased with myself but most memorable was after the game, when Dad presented me with the home run ball. He had gone out into rough while I was in the locker room and rummaged around until he found the ball. When I got back to the car he said "here's your ball". It still sits on the living room bookshelf and if the house were burning down I would grab Emma, the cat and that ball.

M