I think I'm the same age in this picture as you are now, T Junior. I wonder if you'll look at your baby pictures when you are in your 30s and think Why in the heck did you choose that wallpaper, Mom? (Except, it'll be about paint or some other home decorating item because I don't do wallpaper. I think it's clear now where my aversion to the stuff came from.)It looks like I'm toddling around, which is what you are starting to do. You are gaining confidence right now. In the last few days, you've taken as many as nine wobbly steps! It's so strange to see you walking. It catches me off guard.
You might be wondering about the red hat with the T on it in this picture. That's your Grandpa S's hat. Before I was born, your Grandpa S played for a minor league baseball team owned by the Texas Rangers. I have a baseball signed by Dale Murphy, who played for the Atlanta Braves, and a pitcher named Tom Boggs, who played for the Rangers and the Braves. I don't know where the ball is. I think it might be in the attic at one of your grandparents' houses.
When I find it, it's yours.
Your Grandpa S always wanted me to love playing baseball. Softball, actually, because I am a girl and when I grew up there really was only a softball league for girls. Anyway, he always wanted me to play softball. I like it just fine, but I wasn't passionate about the sport like I was about soccer. I loved soccer.
The cool thing about having a former baseball player for a dad, though, was that he taught me to throw like a boy. I thought that was the coolest thing, and even into my 20s I enjoyed showing off my I-don't-throw-like-a-girl skills.
When you get older, like after college and you're married and live far away from your family (please, oh, please stay close), you don't get to hang out with your parents like you did when you were younger. The goofy thing is, though, when you were younger, you didn't want to hang out with your parents. When you get older, you miss just sitting around with them. I know you don't believe me, but you do.
There's a line in the movie City Slickers that I like. The film is a classic. It's about these three middle-age friends from the city who go on a cattle drive...you'll just have to believe me. Anyway, they are talking about how much they love baseball, and the man named Phil says, "...I guess it's childish. But when I was about 18 and my dad and I couldn't communicate about anything at all, we could still talk about baseball."
It's a great line. And, I think it's true for a lot of boys. I didn't talk about baseball with your Grandpa, though. We played catch. On the asphalt driveway in front of the house or on the beach in Carmel-By-the-Sea.
I used to play catch with my dad a lot. When you get bigger, you can play catch with your dad.
And your mom, too, because she doesn't throw like a girl.
