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My Red Sox Mom
“My Mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual, and physical education I received from her.” – George Washington
We all have friends that we grew up with threw the years, some of which we probably still talk to from time to time, but do you remember your first best friend. I remember mine everyday. You know the special person who is always there when you need them. Whether it is to lift your spirits up when you’re down or share in your joy when you’re happy. Or laugh at your jokes no matter how stupid they are. Or wipe a tear from your eye when you cry, sometimes crying with you and they don’t know why.
See for me that best friend was my mom. My dad , being in the military for most of my youth, was not around much. So my mom was in charge of transportation to all of my activities, such as baseball practice and games. It was during these trips we formed a bond that would last a lifetime.
See my mom couldn’t read very well because she had to quit school at 13 yrs old to help support the family while the men were off at war. She explained to me how I should get the best education possible so that I didn’t have to go through what she went through not being able to read. It was then that someone else came into the bond, that someone was the Boston Red Sox.
My mom would always carry the sports page with us everywhere and she would ask me to read the articles to her. Everyday I would read to her about Yaz, Rice, Lynn, El Tiante, Drago, and my favorite , Eckersley. After ballgames she would tell me how she thought I did or what she thought I could do better.
Unlike my dad, Mom didn’t have the stories of the old time Sox. Heck She really wasn’t even a sports fan before me. Instead she was content listening to me read to her and slowly she gained an appreciation of the game and a love for the Red Sox that was incredible. She learned the starting lineups, pitching rotations, bullpen, batting averages, and era’s. Sometimes she would quiz me just to pass the time on long trips.
As the years passed on my parents divorced, I graduated high school, joined the military, and a lot changed but the one thing that always remained was my mom and I sitting on the phone at least once a week (sometimes every night) reading the days box score and Sox article’s only now she was reading them to me.
Even though I was a thousand miles away, she helped keep me close to her and the team she loved, the Sox. I once asked her why she loved them so much and she gave me most wonderful yet simple answer: “Because you love them and I love you.”
When she passed away in the summer of 04, I felt like the world came crashing in around me and I cried like a baby for weeks. For a brief period every time I watched a game or highlight of the Red Sox I couldn’t control the tears because all I could think about was my mom.
Then it happened, we beat the hated Yankee’s in the most improbable way and made it to the World Series. My dad came to NC to be with me for the final two games. When the last out was made, we looked at each other with a tear in our eyes. While his tear may have been for other reasons, my tear was for the thought that now my mom could rest in peace her job was done. “Because I love her , I love the Sox”
This story takes a strange twist after this because I would find out that she was not my real mom (I recently have been reunited with my mother) and I was not told this for the 40 yrs of my existence. While I do not blame her for this revelation, I wish she were here to answer the questions I have concerning this situation. She is still the woman who raised me and treated me as her own and for that I am grateful. Without her I would not be the person I am today. She went to her grave proud of me but she’ll never know how proud I am to have been able to call her MOM.
Thanks Mom, may you Rest In Peace
Thanks for reading this winded rambling and I hope on this mothers day that something I said here will touch you enough to look at your mom or step mom and say thank you with an extra big hug……….”Because She Loves You”
Ncsoxfan67
-ncsoxfan67
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