Monday, March 31, 2008

Bittersweet

Despite the weather, it was a great weekend. The 1988 Georgetown High School baseball team (state champs!) had their 20th reunion, and they were scheduled to play a Georgetown High School alumni team. This is a big deal for our family, because Richie's brother Jason was on the 1988 team, and Trey was asked to play on the alumni team.

First things first--we finally got a picture of Trey's name on the wall at Mike Johnson Park.

Woo-hoo! Doesn't that look good? He worked so hard for that honor. I wanted to put flashing lights around it, and maybe hire a dancing leprechaun, but Trey thought it might be in bad taste. Well, it is his name after all, so I guess I needed to honor his wishes.

When we got to the park, Cathryn immediately wanted to go out on the field. The first place Trey took her was first base. The second was his name on the sign. Then they threw a baseball back and forth for a little while.

I only knew a few guys that were on the '88 team, but it was fun watching Richie and his parents say hello to everyone. I've known since this reunion weekend was announced that it was going to be hard on them, so I give them major points just for showing up. Not that they would have been anywhere else in the world this weekend. After a luncheon in their honor, the '88 players took the field for practice, and they were all so good-natured about it. They were clearly having fun, and so was the crowd.

What I really enjoyed was watching Richie enjoy the practice. As we sat in the stands, he was clearly nostalgic over his high school baseball days. When we got home, I dug out an old video tape of Richie as a senior taking batting practice and catching at the Stratford game. I loved watching Richie do what he loves, but inwardly I was so happy that his fashion sense had improved since his high school days. Folks, he was wearing cut-off orange sweatpants. And not normal orange, either, but bright hunting orange. You wouldn't miss him in the dark. :)

Sunday was...emotional. Trey was on the Alumni team, so we all got to hoot and holler and cheer when his name was announced, but when they announced the '88 team, the mood completely changed. They had Trey present Jason's State Championship ring and uniform to Richard and Cathy. My heart was pounding, my eyes filled with tears, and I felt so helpless. All I could do was cling to Richie and try to be strong for him, because the pain of losing his brother cuts him much deeper than it cuts me. I can share his hurt, his anger, his confusion, but I don't know the pain of losing a sibling.

Once the teams hit the field, though, all our moods lifted. Cathy broke out her cowbell, and ever time the '88 team or Trey did something great, she'd shake it. It really was very funny. It was obvious, though, that the teams were having the most fun, ribbing one another on and off the field. The final score was 10-5 in favor of the Alumni team, but really, they were all winners.

Toodles!

1 comment:

Lynn said...

That was a great post. I felt as though I was there in the stands with you. Thanks for sharing.

That is an awesome looking sign with Trey's name on it. I can't blame you for wanting to put up lights, sounds like something I would want to do as well. Good for him.