At the ballpark…as usual.

To be clear, 2024 has been the worst year of my (long) life. It had to be after losing Jacqueline, my wonderful bride, life partner, and passionate San Diego Padres fan, to insidious cancer in April.

Among the million or so things that I loved about her was something I discovered decades ago, when we first met: she was a passionate baseball fan, a result of her grandfather taking her to minor league games in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Having no connection to any Midwest MLB team, joining me in my passion for the Padres came naturally to her.

Jacqueline and I went to tons of Padres games, both at Qualcomm Stadium and Petco Park, where we had season tickets at the latter venue since its opening in 2004. We gave up those tickets last year when her health began to fail. The Padres, class organization that they are, refunded our payment in full when I explained our situation.

On the April day that Jacqueline went into Hospice, I surfed about a hundred channels on the TV in her room to find the new Padres broadcast station. She was pleased that I found the game. It turned out to be the last time she would see the Padres play.

I spent this year sleepwalking through a nightmare. If not for the love of my family, and my love of baseball, I don’t know if I would’ve made it to this point. Thank you, Padres. Your season is over now, due to a crushing loss to the Team-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named. But you had a great ride, and you helped this old guy no end. As our brick in Petco Park—and on our front step—says: “Jacqueline and Mike Sirota, Padres Fans Forever!”