Play Ball

When last we chatted, I was pretty wrapped up in storytelling. In the past year, nothing really has changed about that. I’m inspired with the idea of storytelling. And I’m intrigued at the different vehicles that we have at our disposal to share the story.

I’m writing a book . . . storytelling. 

Sarah’s writing a screenplay . . . storytelling. Her screenplay will hopefully be made into a movie/dvd . . . storytelling. 

We watch our favorite TV shows week in and week out anxiously awaiting the next chapter . . . storytelling. 

We attend plays and enjoy musicals . . . storytelling. 

We buy our favorite band’s new cd on iTunes and listen as the story unfolds in just three to four minutes . . . again, storytelling. 

Whether we are cognizant of the fact or not, we are surrounded and enveloped on a daily basis by storytelling. The evening news, the water cooler, the introductions at the beginning of a meeting, the chat on the cell phone with mom at the end of the day are all different ways in which we converse by telling our stories. 

My latest story is baseball! Not just the book that I’m writing, but my youngest son, Jesse is about to begin his last high school baseball season as he is a senior and will graduate in May. This has been such a significant time of reflection for me. Our oldest son, Beau started playing baseball in 1990. I’ve been sitting in the bleachers at the ballpark for 23 years. To me that is an amazingly long time to be doing any one thing season after season.

However, the fact that this is his last season playing school ball is merely a factor in a much bigger story. At some point within the year, I will be an empty nester. Truth be told, I have not really worried about this stage of life. I have so enjoyed every other stage that the kids have gone through, that I always thought that I would transition easily. And I probably will. However, what I keep thinking about is what am I going to do next spring when it is time to go to the ball field and I won’t have anyone to watch play ball? 

I read a quote today: “You see, you spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball, and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time” by Jim Bouton. There’s just something really special about baseball. It gets ahold of you and doesn’t let go. It is the welcome of spring after a cold dreary winter with its fresh cut grass, neatly lined base paths, clean uniforms (but not for long), with nachos and hot dogs on the grill. The sun is shining and the kids are laughing and running around breathing in the crisp air. Baseball is special. 

I’ll share one Jesse baseball story with you in closing out this blog. I have many! Jesse plays baseball with all the emotion and passion that he has in him. You can tell by the look on his face how he feels. His emotions are raw and displayed for all to see on his sleeve. Not a bad way to play ball . . . with everything you’ve got! 

In this recollection, Jesse’s probably nine or so, and he’s not having a great day on offense. Truth be told, he’s not having a bad day either. It was his third at bat. He didn’t get a call that he thought he should have. The pitch was called a strike and he thought it was outside. WOW! He was mad! I actually think he got a base hit on the next pitch, but it didn’t matter, he couldn’t let go of what he thought was a bad call by the ump. 

In between innings, he came to the fence to talk to me. He was still fuming. He had to be standing no more than 10 feet from the ump. And he starts passionately and loudly telling me how bad the call was, and that the ump shouldn’t be umping, and “did you see that pitch mom – it was so outside.” It was all I could do to not laugh. I’m sure the poor umpire heard every word. Jesse was so worked up over something that didn’t matter. So, I let him finish. And when he was quiet and just looking at me for my reaction, I said, “I understand that you disagree with that call, and sometimes people make mistakes. But what I want you to do when we get home is, give the ump a hug and tell him that you forgive him for making one bad call.” Jesse’s older brother, Beau was the ump that day. 

"Tribal Tales" by Diane LeJeune (c) 2010 Feeling Good Entertainment, LLC and Diane C. LeJeune