Baseball is Divine

I want to write about baseball today, because if the Yankees win tonight, this will be the last day of the 2009 major league baseball season. Because of this, I feel the need to set aside a small time in my day to celebrate baseball. This game that I love.

Ever since fall 2004 when my son Dan came home from school, asking me to take him to get a Red Sox cap because they were going to the win the World Series, I have been a fan. Side by side him, I watched that series and fell in love, with the game, with the Red Sox, with the idea that humans are capable of so much. And of course, it made me love my son even more than I already did.

In the fall of 2005, Dan was diagnosed with a serious kidney disease. He went through chemo as part of a treatment protocol that lasted all of his 8th grade year. During chemo, we read Stewart O'Nan and Stephen King's book, Faithful, which chronicled the 2004 Red Sox season, ending with them winning the World Series. The book pushed us forward, kept us going during those times; we didn't know that Dan would become well like he is now, but we knew the Red Sox would win the World Series and we kept reading. Also during that time, I watched more baseball than I care to admit. It was a ritual that kept me sane. During everyday, I went to the TV like I was going to church. Each time a player hit a home run, or went back to the plate after previously being struck out, it gave me hope that I could also step up, keep going, being Dan's caretaker; that I could follow doctor's orders, get him through this.

Since that time, I've continued to watch a lot of baseball. Not so much as that chemo year, but still quite a bit. Maybe there is some part of me that needs the reminder that we can all make it in this complex world in which we find ourselves. We can inspire each other. We are a team. One small smart action usually benefits more than the person who acts. There is much to celebrate and be grateful for: a bountiful season of 2009 baseball... and especially, that my son Dan is WELL...and if the Phillies win tonite, the chance to see one more baseball game. Which I definitely plan to watch!