Sheer gift

Yesterday evening was a blessing.

The weather was wonderful, terrific for baseball.

When the game began, Mr C came out of the home team dugout to tell me he couldn't go to karate or they would forefeit the game. It has been many weeks since I got to watch the game until it was over. It's been way too many weeks since I had the joy of sitting outside and just soaking up the wonders of spring.

Last fall Mr C was on a team that, even with a few terrific players, couldn't seem to pull itself together to win.

Although winning is still a matter of some hit or miss among fourth and fith graders, it's still nice when you see a team improve, as this one has -- very close to the end of the spring season.

The final score? 10-2, and that included a double by Mr C (a better chess player than he is a baseball player). For this mother, who has felt cheated of almost an entire season of watching her son's evolving boyhood, it was an opportunity to cast off temporarily the personas of priest and writer, cheering and biting my nails and taking my sweaty, hungry son (he'd already eaten) out for pizza and ice cream -- a wonderful feast on a lovely evening.