Gathering Dust...

"Gathering Dust"

Not sure how Thing #1 would react seeing a collection of his old wooden bats relegated to a laundry bin in the garage, gathering dust.  Actually, I'm not sure how "I" feel about coming face-to-face with this spectacle while searching the garage for an elusive case of Diet Peach Snapple.  But the reality of the situation is not only do I need to hit the supermarket to replenish my beverage of choice...but Thing #1 is about to hit life full throttle, and it's totally of his own making.  I have mixed emotions, but pride is definitely hitting clean up this season.

I'm not sure anything can connect with my heart more directly right now than a bunch of dusty old bats.  Actually, for those who know me, it's surprising that MOI would treat prized baseball possessions like this so non-chalantly.  At one time I would have gold-plated them and erected a shrine to Thing #1's baseball career...because it was just THAT all-consuming.

This is the path of a kid who started out in t-ball on a sweltering hot summer's day, and reluctantly donned the oppressively hot catcher's gear ONLY because no one else would...and HE wanted to get the game over with so he could go to the pool with a bunch of friends.  A kid who ONLY made the junior high team thru the good graces and pull with the coach of a family friend.  A kid who would have made it to first base alot quicker if ONLY he could get that whole gangly body of his moving in the same direction and a straight line.  A kid who morphed into a young man and top-notch catcher, and signed to play college ball with Penn State (not so surprising since he came home from the hospital in a Penn State one-sie).  As a proud mom I will tell you he was named MVP two years in a row, and team captain his senior year.  It wasn't easy.  He required Tommy John surgery during his sophomore season and fell off the radar which lead to some serious questioning of himself.  But in typical Thing #1 fashion, that kid landed on his feet thru hard work and a sheer stubbornness that still can cause me to want to ring his neck at times.  After college, Thing #1 was signed with the Phillies and played in their minor league system.

And then...Thing #1 surprised us all during Spring Training and hung up his cleats.  Yep, the thing that defined both him and ALL our lives for so many years got relegated to the garage and began to gather dust in a laundry bin.  It was as if our family had been thrown out at home plate, and it was a LOUSY call!  But in typical Thing #1 style, he had already decided it was time to brush off the dirt, and head to...law school.

It's been three years.  And in two weeks...Thing #1 graduates from the Dickinson School of Law at Penn State.  And just to prove he is still batting in his typical clean up spot...he has already procured himself an associateship at a law firm.  He's landed yet again on his feet.  He's not a "kid" anymore...he's definetly an accomplished young "man".

I look at this laundry bin of dusty bats and my heart swells at both all they represented and all they do NOT represent any longer.  And I am surprisingly happy they are gathering dust and no longer  hold such a prominent place in our lives...because life goes on.  That law firm got themselves not only a fine young man and promising lawyer....but also a 6'5" ringer for their law firm softball team!  A shrewd and cunning legal maneuver I would say.

Proud of you kid young man...


--Mom