“Baseball buddies.”
(Balm: anything that heals, soothes, or mitigates pain.) In a couple of weeks it will be two years since I lost Jacqueline, my beloved bride, to demon cancer. Devastated? I’m sure you can imagine. For a time, I thought I’d follow close behind. So how did I survive the aftermath? Three things helped me through it: the love and support of my family. My writing. And…baseball.
I got to thinking about that time of late, especially after surviving my 80th birthday earlier this month without any parts of my anatomy falling off or anything. Time to focus on the second anniversary of my beloved’s passing. Two years! It still feels like I lost her last month.
At the same time, the baseball season is almost here! (As of this writing, Opening Day is less than a week away.) Jacqueline loved the Padres as much as I did. On the evening she went into the Hospice house, she wanted to watch that night’s game. I managed to find the new Padres channel on the house’s cable, which pleased her.
She passed away the next day.
Together, my “baseball buddy” and I suffered through many seasons of the Padres being one of the worst teams in the league. Now that they are one of the better franchises, it breaks my heart that she’s not here to enjoy it. Still, I keep her informed as best I can. I feel her presence every day.
As for me…in addition to being pleased at the prospect of another season, I hearken to a vow I once made, the same vow uttered by my alter ego, Jack Miller, in a few of the six books in my comedy/sci-fi series. We have vowed not to die until the San Diego Padres win a World Series. (At my age, I do hope they hurry up.) But whatever happens, I am profoundly grateful for the soothing balm of baseball.