Son of a Son
1,000+ Posts
It is the end of an era. Last night I finally had to by a new glove.
My previous glove was with me before my daughter was ever born, hell before I got married. Back in the days when I played co-rec ball and thought I was hot stuff. Then when my daughter turned four, she started playing t-ball and it served as a tool for coaching. I coached her for 7 years, every fall and every spring season with that glove by my side. Then, last Spring, we went to Nationals in Harlingen, Texas and my trusty glove was there. We played for a whole week in that heat and I caught hundreds if not thousands of balls. When we were done, we drove home and put the gear away until this fall.
When the fall season began, I went to find my glove and it had vanished. I looked high and low, and emailed all the parents from the team that had travelled with us thinking it just got stuck in someone else's bag and someone would say "Yeah, we have it" but to no avail. I went through the fall season borrowing gloves just knowing that my glove would show up.
Then spring came, and still no glove. I tore through our leagues equipment shed thinking "Maybe someone found it and put it in the cage...". Again, I was shot down. I spent the whole spring borrowing gloves once again, though by then I knew it would be a miracle if it ever showed up.
Now that it is the All-Star season and my daughter was selected for an All-Star team, I knew it was finally time to say goodbye. Last night, my daughter and I went to Academy to find a replacement. I stood in that aisle for 45 minutes trying on gloves and re-trying on gloves. To my daughter's credit, she never asked "What's taking so long?". I raised her well and she's played ball long enough to know. So now I have a new glove.
I am reminded of a scene from Lethal Weapon 4 where Leo is talking to Riggs at the gravesite of his first wife and he relates a story. He reminds Riggs that Lorna is not a "replacement" for or "better" than his first wife, she's just a "different" wife. That is how I am trying to feel about this new glove.
In an odd irony, those of you who have seen Cast Away know that Tom Hanks' character's best friend was a volleyball named "Wilson", well my old glove was also a Wilson.
I'll miss you Wilson.
My previous glove was with me before my daughter was ever born, hell before I got married. Back in the days when I played co-rec ball and thought I was hot stuff. Then when my daughter turned four, she started playing t-ball and it served as a tool for coaching. I coached her for 7 years, every fall and every spring season with that glove by my side. Then, last Spring, we went to Nationals in Harlingen, Texas and my trusty glove was there. We played for a whole week in that heat and I caught hundreds if not thousands of balls. When we were done, we drove home and put the gear away until this fall.
When the fall season began, I went to find my glove and it had vanished. I looked high and low, and emailed all the parents from the team that had travelled with us thinking it just got stuck in someone else's bag and someone would say "Yeah, we have it" but to no avail. I went through the fall season borrowing gloves just knowing that my glove would show up.
Then spring came, and still no glove. I tore through our leagues equipment shed thinking "Maybe someone found it and put it in the cage...". Again, I was shot down. I spent the whole spring borrowing gloves once again, though by then I knew it would be a miracle if it ever showed up.
Now that it is the All-Star season and my daughter was selected for an All-Star team, I knew it was finally time to say goodbye. Last night, my daughter and I went to Academy to find a replacement. I stood in that aisle for 45 minutes trying on gloves and re-trying on gloves. To my daughter's credit, she never asked "What's taking so long?". I raised her well and she's played ball long enough to know. So now I have a new glove.
I am reminded of a scene from Lethal Weapon 4 where Leo is talking to Riggs at the gravesite of his first wife and he relates a story. He reminds Riggs that Lorna is not a "replacement" for or "better" than his first wife, she's just a "different" wife. That is how I am trying to feel about this new glove.
In an odd irony, those of you who have seen Cast Away know that Tom Hanks' character's best friend was a volleyball named "Wilson", well my old glove was also a Wilson.
I'll miss you Wilson.
