Now, I don't mean to say I was a bad person before this decision. Andy and Ellie raised me better than that. They raised all of us to be better than that. But I can also admit to the world (or at least the part of said world that reads this) that I haven't always been the kind of person I'd like to be. Even after I became more mindful of it.
Hey, I'm a work in progress, I'll admit it.
What was the root cause of my desire to be a better person?
The day that this once little boy entered my life -
I don't remember how old he is here, eighteen months or so, and he's giving Papa a goodnight kiss while on a sleepover at our house. Btw, no snark on Papa's hair or the hair color please. Just sayin... This is one of my favorite pictures of the Heir to the Throne and certainly my favorite of the two of us.
No offense to the generation that separates us, but I don't remember feeling the need to be more aware of who I was and what I stood for when they were little. But when this face -
came along I found a feeling that, I don't know, maybe drew my own mortality into focus. And I just knew I needed to try and make a better, safer world for him and for those that would follow him.
Wow, that took a turn I didn't really see coming. This is all way too heavy for a Saturday morning, right?
I tried to impart some grandfatherly advice when he hit his teens but I'm afraid it turned out with kind of a fortune cookieish quality to it.
And so young man, there are so many things I want to tell you, so many things I want to share here for the world (more or less) to see as I try and express my feelings and wishes for you.
Here goes...
Let's start with the title for this post. And a quick disclaimer. Just because I used that word doesn't mean you're allowed to use it around me or any other adult yet. Nice try. But the title is, imho, accurate. So pay attention to the world around you and the events that shape it.
Now that I've got that out of the way. Let me tell you this. You're the best baseball player this family has produced. Without question.
But having said that, let me also say that particular bar was never very high. I was a pretty terrible Little Leaguer. Your uncle was a little better than me. And as softball players go, your Mom fit right into the family profile. She is, after all, the one you got your "blazing" speed from... just like she got hers from me.
Sorry.
Baseball gets a bad rap, in my opinion, from many people. "It's boring" "bunch of overpaid whiners" and so many more knocks on such a beautiful game. Let me tell you something. And you may not appreciate the truth in this for a while. A long while. Baseball transcends generations. It is essentially the same as it was a hundred years ago. "Field of Dreams" expressed that beautifully, and many other movies have drawn from the romanticism of the game.
The love of baseball is a common bond you and I share that no one and no thing can ever take from us. Even if you never play another game. Forty years from now, as you approach the age I'm at now, you'll see something; some common, ordinary, everyday, thing that will remind you of a time in your youth when life was so much simpler. Appreciate the beauty of the moment. As you get older, life tends to get more hectic, there's not much you can do about that. Looking back on fond memories with family and friends can help you refocus on what is most important to you, whatever it may be.
The decisions you make moving forward are yours and yours alone to make. Think them through carefully, there are few small ones. And sometimes those that seem the most inconsequential will have the loudest repercussions. Sometimes life-changing.
I'll explain that one to you later.
I'll always be there for you pal.
Happy birthday.
I love you.
Peace
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