I was walking downtown the other day, going back and forth about something; I tried to do the right thing. I planned my day trip for work on a day that my son had no baseball games scheduled; I wouldn’t miss a single game. However, Mother Nature did not cooperate. The two games that I was most looking forward to, that were originally scheduled for last week, got postponed because of the rain; rain has been causing havoc with a lot of the baseball schedules around these parts. When I received the “updated schedule” over the weekend, I knew; I didn’t even want to open the email. I did, and yep… THE game that I had been anxiously waiting for was rescheduled for the day I was going to be in New Jersey. This is messed up; things don’t usually break this way for me… damn.
So yeah, since that day, I was agonizing over it; if it was just some regular game, whatever. Yeah, it’d suck to miss one of his games, but it will happen eventually. I’d get over it; any game but THIS one. Of course the game I’m talking about is the one where my son will play at the same park that I played at during my youth; this is the same park where my brother and sister played at, where my dad coached, where my mom watched. My parents still live in that same house, right around the corner from Harrison Park. Who would have ever imagined this would be possible? My son, playing baseball, on the same diamond that I played on as a kid. Maybe most would still think it’s stupid for me to feel like this…
It’s one of those things I never expected, yet now that I know it was going to happen, wouldn’t miss it for the world; well, I was about to miss it for my job. Sucks, because my job isn’t that demanding, not like that; it’s all about timing. Lots of stuff going on at home and at the job; have to make my way out there sooner than later. I’m just going to shut up and go; it’s just my selfish thing anyways… to want to see this happen. Wait, he has another game there, later in the summer. When I checked the date of that game, it’s on the same day we’re coming back from our previously scheduled vacation; he’ll miss that one… and so will I. Why does the one day I will be going out of town for work have to be the same day as this? This is going to cause me to miss something I may never, ever get the chance to see again; something that I would remember for the rest of the life. Damn.
Hey, this is life, right? You need to make sacrifices; you can’t always get what you want. I had to do what I had to do for work, and that’s that; I’ll get over it. But will I? Will this be something that I regret the rest of my life? Why did this game have to be rescheduled for THIS day? Damn.
I started preparing for my trip. Got all my work stuff together; shaved my head, my face, cut my fingernails, my toenails. Got my boarding pass; took the sanitizer and wipes that my wife gave me and put them in my bag. I said good night to my son; kissed him on the head, and told him good luck tomorrow… I told my wife that she would have to FaceTime me when he’s up to bat; at least I’ll get to watch him virtually. This is COVID times still anyways? We all had to do virtual shit. I can’t believe I’m going to miss this… I checked my emails before going to bed; I got an email about bad weather on the East Coast. My flight was cancelled… God works in mysterious ways man, let me tell you…
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