Springtime, Baseball, Memories!!!

My mom informed me that tomorrow is the opening game for the Hillcrest Knights Baseball team. This is the FIRST spring/summer since I can remember that I won't be sitting at baseball games at least twice a week. Baseball has always been a HUGE part of my life and has taught me so much about the important things in life.

My father was a college baseball player. He played for Rick's College one of the only seasons that they were in the play off game to go to the Junior College National Championships. After his first 3 sons Josh, Rob, and Ryan got old enough he spent every summer coaching baseball, bringing his coaching total years to 20+. He has so many players from over the years that still respect and love him so much. With all these brothers and my dad as the coach I learned to absolutely LOVE watching baseball.

My brother Ryan is about 4 years older than me. I don't think I ever missed a game of his from little league up through college ball. I was his biggest fan! We traveled as a family all over the place to support him and in doing so spent alot of precious time together. His high school years were my favorite because I got to help run the concession stand so between double-headers all the cute high school boys would come get food and I could check them out:)!! I was so proud that people knew I was "Dustpan"s (his nickname) sister and was probably just about as heartbroken as he was when they lost the semi-final game at the State Championships in 1998.

My little brother Tyler also really excelled at baseball so once Ryan graduated we got to start all over again watching Ty from Little League all the way up through High School. Even though I was busy with my own high school life, I never wanted to miss watching Tyler play. I was so proud of him! He also worked hard with his team to make it to the State Tournament and ended up with the 3rd place trophy just like Ryan's team did. Due to some really bad back problems he hasn't been able to continue in college although it is a goal of his and he is working hard to get himself there.

Baseball is not just a sport to me. It is a symbol of countless times we spent together as a family rooting for eachother and learning to respect and love eachother. I will miss so much sitting in the bleachers, eating sunflower seeds and AWESOME ball park hamburgers (my favs). I will miss that great feeling of pride as I watched one of my siblings come up to bat or make a great play in the field. Along the way I learned pretty much every single rule (which were explained in extensive after game recaps by my dad and brothers) and strategy to the game. I even was an umpire for a summer!!! I am so grateful that my summers were spent laughing with my family and learning to support eachother in everything. My family is so close and each of us has had our own things in life that we have been able to support eachother in and be so proud of eachother. Each member of my family has made feel so proud to be related to them in so many ways. Now that we are all grown and have such separate lives, I am grateful for the memories that created precious friendships and keep us connected.