True Blue Love

The Dodgers are going to the World Series! God, but a lot has happened since the last time that was true. 29 years is a very long time, a lifetime in fact for Dillon Gregory. My emotions have ridden so close to the surface since Thursday - manic and weepy and excited and unbelieving. I do not have a long sustained post within me (not now, anyway) but it was important to me to think about Greg, to tell the world I was thinking about Greg, and to have him be part of this incredibly special time.

One of my earliest memories of Dodger Stadium is that I loved it because it was the place where I could yell for a long time without constraint, and I was a really loud kid. We watched a lot more games on TV than at the stadium then, which was probably better for a little kid anyway because I could follow the game easier and learn more about the players. Then in college I went through a short-lived and ill-advised pretension about baseball being low class whereas I was an intellectual (gross!) and briefly hid my love of the game. Grateful that passed as quickly as it did.

I am so grateful for Chavez Ravine; especially in the last 8 years, it has been there for me through grief and heartbreak and loneliness and upheaval. It's my church more than anywhere else except the ocean. Being there calms my heart and guides my perspective, so here are my favorite lessons from baseball:

1. The past and the future matter, but the present is where it's at. This season, this game, this inning, this at bat, this pitch. Baseball reminds me more than everything else to Be. Here. Now. The past is treated with respect and the future is treated with anticipation, but neither of them are allowed to color the Glorious Now.

2. That said, the past is constantly part of the present and in our Dodger hearts. Referring back to important events, paying tribute to Dodger legends, showing love for Dodger memories. This is how I aim to keep Greg a part of my life - mostly joyfully, sometimes painfully, always authentically.

3. Accept change. Despite my vociferous objections and impassioned refusals, somehow A. J. Ellis stayed traded. Bullshit! Our players change, our records change, even our seats have changed from when Greg was alive, but true blue love stays true. It's forever.

Daddio, you were SO CLUTCH. I really really wish that you were here for this. I'd like to think that if you can see me anywhere, it's at Blue Heaven on Earth, yelling and jumping and feeling all the feels. Feeling so excited. Feeling so close to you. Being right here, in the Glorious Now.

Happy World Series, everyone!!! LET'S GO DODGERS!!!