As I pulled into the crowed parking lots of our little town’s little league field, a sense of nostalgia overwhelms my soul. I carefully dance around the children who are running around the playground area and watch as parents juggle their two-year-old and pay full attention to their kid on the ball field. I came to watch my two younger cousins play baseball, but instead, I found myself reminiscing about my childhood. Between my father’s run in the local mushball league, my weak attempt to play softball, my younger brother’s baseball team, and my grandfather’s love of the game, baseball and softball has been a constant in my life and I did not realize it until now. I have never been a sports fanatic and I definitely do not have much athletic ability, but baseball will forever hold a place in my heart and, in turn, has taught me more than I could have ever imagined.

1. Family matters

Every game I have ever went to has been for and with people that love me. Your family is there for your first run and there for your 16th birthday party. Family means sacrifice and unending loyalty. No matter the disagreement and no matter who wins.

2. Patience

I hope that any baseball fans do not get upset at this statement, but baseball is probably the most boring sport to watch. I said before that I am not a sports fan, so some of my opinion probably stems for that. Because of that, there is a level of patience that I learned from the games that can sometimes become uninteresting to me three quarters of the way through.

3. Appreciation

Every time I go to a game, I find myself refreshed from the summer night breeze and the smell of the woods around me. I go everyday living in the same area and when I go to a ball game, I find myself appreciating the beauty of the Appalachian Mountains and the place I call home.

4. Tradition

Tradition is comforting. I know every time I go to a ball game; I will get French fries. Afterwards, our family heads to the nearest ice cream stand. Now I get to do that with the next generation of our family, and I find that family tradition is a beautiful cultural intangible that when passed down from generation to generation creates memories that can never be replaced.