Today is my birthday. I am 51 years old today. Four years ago on my birthday I sat down at my laptop to write about a little girl who was only able to celebrate four birthdays. Her name was Kate Rhoades and she died on January 12, 2016 after a sudden relapse of leukemia. Each of the four years since her death, my birthday week takes on a new meaning for me. I think of Kate's sunny face and try not to lament the passage of time, the new wrinkles at the corners of my eyes, and the increasing number of aches I discover in my body. I recognize that time is a gift and that birthdays are not promised to anyone. The anniversary of the death of a four year old girl only days before my birthday makes that recognition glaringly clear.
So why do I include a post about Kate on a travel baseball league's website? Because as most longtime players and fans of this game know, baseball is more than just a game. Baseball is about people and relationships and community as much as it is about strikes and hits and runs. I knew about Kate's story because of my involvement in the Kyle's Kamp Memorial Day Youth Baseball Tournament which raises money for pediatric cancer patients. Many NVTBL teams participate in the tournament and many are paired with a local pediatric cancer patient throughout the tournament. The coaches, players, and their families form a relationship with their "patient ambassador" and I can tell you from personal experience that young boys who have been singularly focused on basehits and batting averages become young men who learn life lessons they might never have otherwise and are forever changed by the moments they spend with these children.
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