It’s hard to believe the holidays have passed us by already. Our last newsletter mentioned getting ready for the holidays, our recent holiday camp, and the importance of continuing to prepare your arm for the upcoming baseball season.
As is often the case, holidays and family take up the bulk of our time, while throwing, hitting, and training gets put on the back burner. The holidays are a time of cheer as well as a chance to reflect and enjoy being with those we love. Our hope is that you were able to enjoy the festivities considering a raging virus is still lurking among us. Our family did enjoy our time together, and I know our boys and daughters-in-law did too.
One area of reflection for us is knowing that this is our last holiday not being grandparents. Ryan and his wife, Alex, are anxiously awaiting the birth of their son, our grandson. This is what family is about. Even with sadness and despair being a part of our lives in this COVID world, it’s important to see what we can look forward to in 2021!
I like to think that with a vaccine, or two and maybe three vaccines, becoming available there is light at the end of what has been a VERY long tunnel of darkness. The chances we can finally get over the hump with COVID look to be very good. So good, in fact, that even Dr. Fauci has said that Fall 2021 is looking like a good timeframe to get back to some sense of normalcy. Now, wearing a mask for another year doesn’t sound appealing, but if it gets our children back to school and back on the diamond, and the rest of us back at sporting events or the movie theater, then I’ll continue to wear a mask.
All in all, I just want our daughter to go back to school where she belongs and come home smiling again, instead of walking down the hallway and dreading going into her bedroom to log on to her Google Classroom. I can’t wait for that smile to come back. This is why I look forward to these small but important reminders of how life should be.
I’m also looking forward to all your sons and daughters getting back on their rec league, travel ball, or high school teams and participating in competition. I’m not talking about wins or losses, but the structure a team provides, the appreciation of learning new things from your coaches, and improving yourself for the greater good of baseball. Things like hitting a sacrifice bunt to move a runner over, throwing strikes on the mound and getting hitters out, and, of course, a batter crushing a ball off the outfield wall then standing on second base with a smirk on his face because he’s best friends with the pitcher and knows he’s helped win a small but significant battle.
I miss hearing about bad umpires, a coach losing his mind over the scoreline, and that feeling you have after participating in a game knowing you did your best on the field. I miss the joy of watching a great game with other like minded people. These are things we take for granted until we lose something so important in our lives.
Watching a movie on your computer screen or television set is not the same as going to a theater, even when you have to pay $8.00 for a medium popcorn. I miss laughing with the rest of the audience when a funny part comes on the screen. It’s these small things you realize we didn’t appreciate when we had the opportunity to.
As the new year starts, we all have hopes and dreams of how we’d like the year to turn out. Reflecting on 2020, we all just wish we could move on from it. However, from great struggles can come to important moments down the road, like my grandson coming into the world. And nothing is more important than that.
Also, due to the stay-at-home orders, I got to binge watch a lot of shows I didn’t have time before to either watch or finish. I thoroughly enjoyed everything on Netflix, especially Breaking Bad, The Queen’s Gambit, and Ozark. But the best show of 2020 for me was The Office. I’m officially head over heels with that show, and the fact that it started over 17 years ago means nothing to me. So, with all the bad the past year brought, it did bring me joy in small ways. I hope you too can appreciate some of the special days, occurrences, or small moments that 2020 brought you.
However, life moves on; 2020 is history. And 2021 is a year for hope to spring eternal!
My wish is nothing more than great blessings for everyone. I hope 2020 has been a sort of springboard toward many gifts in 2021 and that your children can enjoy sports again. Naturally, this includes being part of all Throwzone Academy has to offer your child: a healthy arm and a place to quietly become more confident in his rise to the next levels of the game.
Let us be a part of your jumpstart into an amazing 2021!
Until next time,
Jim
Jim Wagner's ThrowZone Academy 