Mark, Baseball and a Promise

11

 Mark's dad loved baseball.  Like many, he regularly watched the sport on TV and on occasion went to a game.  Unlike many, he also went on "The Great American Baseball Tour".  Mark's mom and dad bought an RV and set out on their adventure.  They divided the country into three sections and decided to spend one year per section visiting every major league ball park in that particular section.  At each ballpark they planned to arrive early enough to eat a meal and purchase a hat and program.  It was a wonderful adventure, and one they did complete.  

Mark shared his dad's love of baseball, and upon retiring, we had planned to go on our own "Great American Baseball Tour".  We thought it was a wonderful idea, and we even got an RV.

Before Mark's retirement and before our adventure, Mark's dad passed away.  He gave his body to medicine, and we knew eventually his ashes would come back.  We can't remember exactly how it came about, but at some point Mark made a promise to his mom that as we traveled the different ballparks, we would remember Mark's dad and have a bit of a tribute and remembrance for him.  

Then our world got turned upside down.

God, the world, or both, shook up our plans.

I don't even remember which came first:  the Rona or the wokeness, but our plans changed.

We became completely done with baseball.  The players not standing for our National Anthem didn't sit well with us, but that wasn't enough to have us walk away from a game we loved.  Nope, the final straw was when players sat out games in support of an absolute criminal and turned their backs on law enforcement officers.  As an LEO himself, this was Mark's final straw, and it became mine too. We were done with baseball.

Along with this came a pandemic, masks, lockdowns and chaos.

We were not going anywhere much less a "Great American Baseball Tour".

We didn't even WANT to go anywhere.  We are perfectly happy at home in our little bubble.

And then....

Mark's dad's ashes came home.

Mark and his mom talked about Mark's promise, and Mark decided we had to try.  He had to keep his word.  He wanted to keep his word.  He loved his dad, and he wanted to see this through...at least as much as he could.  

So.....for the first time in three years we are leaving our bubble.  We are going on an adventure, and we are doing it in memory of Mark's dad.  It won't be anywhere close to our initial plan.  Not at all.  But we are taking ten days and going to as many ballparks as we can in those ten days.  Part of the problem is logistics.  Just because we can make it to a ballpark does not mean the team is playing on that particular day.  Mark sat down and made a plan and set out an itinerary.  We leave on Friday.

However.  Mark wanted the first game to be with his mom in Houston with his dad's favorite team, the Astros.  They went last week.  

Mark wasn't quite sure how it was going to feel.  He and his mom discussed it.  No, she didn't want a program or anything from the night.  Just them being together, remembering Jim, and watching the game would be enough.  They knew this was simply a gesture.  That Jim was not "with them".  Mark's dad was a God fearing man.  They know exactly where he is.  This was not for him; it was for them. So they went.  They talked.  They watched. (The Astros won.) They remembered. 

Mark wasn't sure how he was going to feel ... but it was a good night.  

A night of remembering and letting go.

(OH, and it just so happens, they did get a "keepsake".  It was bobblehead night and they were handing out this year's inductees to the Astros baseball hall of fame.)