It has been almost four months since our Friday-night softball team got together and took the field for the first time. It was an exciting start of the season for our 20-plus-person roster but the jitters settled in and we actually made our debut with a win. To be exact, we won out first two games which was quite a thrill considering that it was the first time most of us played softball and it was certainly the first time we all played as a team.
Despite our subsequent losing streak we managed to straighten things out and win a few more games leaving us today with a 4-5 record and only one win away from making it into the playoffs. When this new adventure took off a several months ago the idea of going to the playoffs was but a thought nestled in the corner of this optimistic mind that tends to overthink and daydream. Still, after fighting Friday-evening traffic for the past nine weeks, beating teams by one run, winning games by comfortable margins and being on the receiving end of a double-digit, good-old-fashion licking here we are ready for game 10.
While being at the doorstep of a playoff appearance during our first year in the league is exciting and impressive, nothing beats the fact that for the past three months I have spent my Friday nights with some of my favorite people in the world. We all made a commitment to take a break from work, school or life to gather at South Gate Park for two hours of softball. In the midst of playing catch, chasing down fly balls and blocking ground balls with your chest if necessary, what we have done is become a closer family. Prior to softball we saw each other with consistency but it was usually for someone’s birthday or some other special occasion. As of almost four months ago the special occasion is softball but the outcome is the same: we are a happy and stronger family.
I know that everyone on the team is going to show up Friday night ready to win. I’m going to show up ready to help the team accomplish just that; but more than anything I am going to enjoy another Friday night at the park with my family.
