Because today on Mother’s Day at Comerica Park, I renewed my vows to Tiger Baseball, completed with the sprinkling of my childhood dog’s ashes in centerfield – and it was magical.
Exhibit A) Justin Verlander. I’d never seen #35 pitch in person. He did not disappoint, getting out of some tricky jams to dominate 7 strong innings of scoreless baseball. He emphatically finished his outing striking out the final batter with two on to a roaring Tiger crowd.
B) The ballpark. I sat there and watched a 2-0 lead slowly become 2-2… and had a perfect view of both weak Texas home runs. But at the ballpark, everything is too perfect to be ruined. This is crucial for me, instead of endless Fox Sports coverage, to inhale the smells of the stadium and soak in the sunshine with 40,000 other people. Always a good time…
C) My mom. Pretty cool that she’d want to go to a baseball game on Mother’s Day, eh? In the end, we were all happy and tired like the two little girls in front of us – and it was joyous. We didn’t need to win, we had such a gorgeous view. And even though I yelled way too loud for her poor ears, she let me do it. Thanks, mom, and to your mom as well for loving the same Tigers I do.
Now, my brother had to work. If he’d been there, no way the bullpen blows it, right? But our third brother, the standard poodle Kirby, made the trip in my pocket… and after the game, he became apart of the center field grass forever.
I fell in love with baseball catching popups as a kid. I felt so free watching that ball float in flight. And unlike football, no punishment awaited the catch. After I watched my dog’s ashes drift to the outfield, I raised my walking stick to the sky in celebration. I felt his spirit and danced my way through the ballpark, feeling like I was free as a bird, walking on sunshine.
Magic
And I was. Because that dog is beyond physical form, sports defy winning and losing. On Mother’s Day, I leave you with this:
We never lose the love we share. And taking a day out to remember life is bigger than all of us is what it’s all about.