Anyone who knows me know that I would do just about anything for my family. I like to keep that "just about" caveat just in case, but for all intents and purposes, there isn't anything I wouldn't do for them. I have to be honest, however, tonight is pushing it.
Generally speaking, I write these posts about something that has happened in the recent past, but the events of this evening have made it easy for me to write this in real time, save a few interruptions.
A little background may be in order. I played baseball for most of my youth and teen years. Being around baseball was once my life's dream. Admittedly, it has shifted with age, but I love it. I have defended the sport from friends and a wife who compare watching baseball to watching paint dry. I have sat by quietly as each of my children have chosen soccer and basketball over a sport with bat and ball. I take my girls to see the Rockies play despite their attendance being based on a cotton candy based agreement. I love baseball.
To those who aren't fans of America's Pastime, this year the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs meet in the series. Neither team has been a picture of historical dominance, Cleveland having won a world series just about the time World War II was wrapping up, That may seem like a while ago until you consider the last Cubbies series win predates the Great War.
Needless to say, this baseball fan was excited to see game one, playing as we speak. I left work a little late but still had plenty of time to get home for the first pitch. Best laid plans of mice and men. I got a call from my wife saying that Avery, my eldest, was sick and laying on the couch. Not a huge deal I told myself, we have a second TV in our bedroom. Not ideal, but it'll work. It was the next statement that has me typing now.
"I don't feel well, either." my wife said, "Can you pick me up some Mrs. Grass'?"
There is code in that sentence. The code is, I'm not feeling well enough to get out of bed, the home of my last available T.V. So here I sit, pecking away on these keys.
So the point of this one? It isn't to make anyone feel bad, which mommy will and she'll say, "aw, you could have watched it upstairs with me. I wasn't watching anything anyway." The point is about sacrifice. There are sacrifices you don't notice, like making two different breakfasts because half of you won't eat cereal while the youngest is on an 'oatmeal only' kick. But there are also sacrifices that you notice readily, like the fact that I routinely give up football Sunday for birthday parties and soccer and church and whatever else comes along. This baseball game I'm missing definitely falls into the latter. Here's the catch, I may notice I'm missing things, I just don't care all that much. Its far more important to me that you get feeling better or get to hang out at Chuck E Cheese for a birthday. Remember that when your sister wants to borrow a skirt you haven't had the chance to wear yet, or breaks apart a Lego set you've spent your day working on. Let it go. A little sacrifice feels good.
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