Flashback Friday

Brendan and I played a lot of catch back on Chambers/Grove street. He was about what you would expect from a kid just learning: not exceptional, but better with each session. He could catch pretty good and throw pretty good with an occasional wild throw that comes out of no where.

When he got older and we bought one of those over sized plastic bats, he was pretty good with that, too. We even mapped out the yard with bases, and a ball hit over the three-tier impatiens bed was a home run. He eventually signed up for a summer public league and was really too gangly to run all that well. He was like a colt that is all legs and screwy gyroscope.

Unfortunately he put wild expectations on his performances so when things didn't go well, and in baseball they only go well maybe a third of the time, then he'd get down on himself. This picture is Brendan manning center field with a ball going through his legs for an error and he chased after it with an expression of total disgust with himself, and maybe a tinge of embarrassment. He is so like his Dad. I, too, have died a thousand deaths when my expectations didn't match my performance.

That colt is now 6'5" and 250 pounds.

And on this Veteran's Day I thank you for your service. Please, today, send a text or say thanks to your friends and family members who have served in the Armed Forces. With this year's Arab Spring we should never take for granted our freedom and the sacrifice of our friends and neighbors in securing our way of life.

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Existing In BFE

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