I went to the Philadelphia Phillies Opening Day game yesterday. It was my wife’s First opening game that she had ever attended. My wife is in the red Phillies tee shirt on the right. She is a born and raised Indiana Hoosier, but has adopted the Philadelphia teams after living here for over 35 years. I had attended an opening game as a guest a number of years ago. This was the first time for me as a host. I had four tickets, four rows behind the Phillies dugout and invited a lifelong friend and his wife to join us. And they WON 5 to 3! What made it even better was the seventy-degree weather with sunshine on a March Day in Philly! Unheard of. It is usually in the forties, maybe fifties if lucky. It was a perfect day, with great friends, in unusually great weather – with a win.
The game was at 4:15 PM, so we met at a local dive bar for a pre-game lunch in South Philly to catch up on our lives. It was perfect, not the food, but the conversation. We strolled over to the park from the bar about a half mile. We then spent time circumnavigating inside of Citizen’s Bank Park, taking in a Civil war Fife and Drum walking band along the way, before taking our seats to take in the pregame activities. This year Philadelphia is the focal point of America’ 250-year-old celebration, which was a theme to the day in the park. The included the players entering from centerfield downstairs led by the Phanatic, dressed in a colonial outfit. The players were called onto the field individually and lined up on the first and third baselines. The national anthem was sung by Kane Kalas, the son of legendary Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas. There were red, white and blue fireworks lit off before the flyover of two military jets. The first balls were simultaneously thrown out by Phillies legends, Larry Bowa, Greg Luzinski and hall of famer Mike Schmidt. Electricity was in the air as Christopher Sanchez threw the first pitch at 4:15 under a crystal clear blue sunlit sky. A perfect first for my wife attending and for me as a host. It was an honor to share it with her.
I’m grateful for every day. Grateful for every FIRST I am able to experience, AND every First of someone else that I get to share it with! Hopefully you join me on the journey, to find and pursue your love, whatever that may be…