All American Evening

My grandmother was the biggest baseball fan I ever met. In the hot summer evenings she would pull her chair close to the TV, open the screen door and let the breeze in and tune out the rest of the world. Her family would come and go in and out of the kitchen and nibble at whatever pie she had made that day or the ham left over from dinner. We would all sit with her, but none of us could hold her attention quite like the players. There was always ranting. There was always clapping.

I always wished she could have seen a game in person. She would have loved the smells and the sounds. She would have asked for the recipe for the doughnuts. She would have loved peanuts and Cracker Jacks and would have loved the seventh inning stretch.

Park went to his first pro game this weekend. He loved it. He loved the peanuts and Cracker Jacks. He also loved the seventh inning stretch.