For all parents, every last game of the season is bittersweet; and, if you are the parent of a senior, that last game represents the end of a journey which began almost 20 years earlier.
Many of us remember placing miniature gloves, balls or bats into the cribs of our boys. For all of us, baseball evolved from an activity, to a passion and ultimately to the focus of the family. T-ball became little league. Little league became travel ball. Travel ball became high school. Summer ball, camps, and showcases all became part of our lives. Lessons consumed time, money, and many miles of driving. Moms mended ripped uniforms; washed pants and jerseys in many a motel for tournaments; dads threw batting practice until they got hit a few too many times and played catch until they couldn’t catch the velocity reached by their sons. Sisters were dragged to showcases, games, and tournaments. Many a time it seemed as if weekends disappeared as baseball became the family hobby and passion – meaning the laundry didn’t get done, the grass didn’t get mowed, and the dog didn’t get brushed.
While school was important – and ultimately allowed them the privilege of attending college - baseball was the locus around which the family revolved. Baseball represented the true collaboration - the connecting point - of parents and son. The long drives to baseball activities meant hours of growing closer; the mandatory photos in various uniforms trace the growth of our sons from toothless 7 year olds through bearded collegiate players and adorn every house.
And the rooting; always the rooting!
Over time the baseball relationship followed the path of life. Beginning with the parent controlling where and when our boys would play; evolving into a partnership as the boys became self-motivated but couldn’t yet drive to all those games, practices, lessons, and tournaments; and finally culminating with the boys on the stage themselves and the parents – much older now – flying all over the country to watch college baseball – to catch a glimpse of their son loving his time playing the same game he played when he was 7.
That long baseball journey ends with the last game of the season of their senior year. That day is not about the coaches; it’s not about the players; it’s about the journey and the milestone reached. The main actors are the family unit (boy and parent/siblings/grandparents); the stage is the diamond where many of them have just played their last competitive meaningful game; the backdrop is the university that allowed them to mature from 18 year old freshman into men ready to sally forth into the real world; the supporting actors are the coaches - who mentored the boys as they became men – the teammates, and the fans.
For those parents of the college senior, that last game will represent the last time we can reach out and touch him in the uniform with which we have grown so comfortable; on the diamond where we have spent so much time watching; with families and teammates who shared our 20 year journey and sentiments and who were strangers to us four years ago; with younger players who have learned so much from our sons; and with coaches who brought them from teenagers into manhood.
To all the parents of college seniors, I salute you!
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