Chicken Balls, Baseballs....and the Cemetery

An odd title, I know, but those are the things that my last week has covered!! Let's start with the chicken balls...

My husband was invited to go to a Blue Jays game with our two oldest kids. This is not a rare event, but this time they were invited to go with another player from the boys baseball team and his dad. We have played ball with this family for a few years, but this is the first time spent together away from the ball diamond. So off they went, stopping first for dinner at a rather upscale Chinese food restaurant along the way. When they were getting ready to leave, my kids commented about leaving food on the table...wasn't that a waste? Well, yes, I suppose it was, but this was not the time to box up the leftovers for the seventh inning stretch. My husband hurried the kids along and left they with their friends. As they were walking to the baseball game, my son Matthew says, "Hey Dad, look...", at which point he looks down and rather sheepishly pulls out two chicken balls from his pocket!! The little stinker had packed them into his pocket because he didn't want to leave them behind. Then they start tossing them around like baseballs, catching them with their ball gloves that were intended for those homerun balls during the game. Don't know that our friends were impressed, but never the less...that's my Matt.

And now baseballs - aside from the obvious! We took the boys to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame this weekend. Now, where is that? you might ask, and I have thought the very same thing. It's in a little town called St. Mary's and it was remarkably cool! My boys all think that someday they will play in the major leagues, but until then, I continue to cheer them on each and every week. We are at the diamond at least twice a week for two boys and at the soccer field twice a week for another. Fortunately the fourth doesn't play a recreational sport yet, and is content to just play at the park while his brothers contest for top spot in their respective sports!

And lastly, as odd as it seems, the cemetery. This past weekend we attended a family reunion in the hometown of my husband's family. We haven't been for a number of years and decided that this would be the year we would make our return. It was great - there were over 80 people there, many of whom I had not seen in a decade or so! But while we were there, we visited the cemetery. I used to make it routine to go and visit the stone which represents the life and death of both my dear father-in-law and my precious little son, but I had not made it there for a number of visits now. I was struck again by the short, yet impactful life of both these "men". Lives that in some ways mirrored the impact of each other, and in other ways accentuated the distinct differences. But both lives will have a lasting impact - both lives have changed my life forever. It has been almost 6 years since my father-in-law past away, and 4 since my little man was born and died (I can't believe that!). I was surprised how sad I still was, but I let the tears flow freely. Sad probably isn't the right word, because it's not really sadness, it's more remembering the sadness and missing him so very much. I hope that I always have emotion attached to these memories. Not that I want to remain sad, but I do want to remain changed because of the impact they both had on my life. Visiting the cemetery brings back the memories like they were yesterday and I am thankful for that. But visiting the cemetery also reminds me of how blessed I am, not only with the little lives that God has entrusted to me, but also with the extended family and friends that he has allowed to touch my life.

I was reminded again that I am blessed beyond belief, and I am so, so very thankful.