Pink Bats are Brandished, and Kiss your mother today

Mother’s day, and all the pink in baseball has a new meaning to me this year.

Several months ago, my mom got a routine breast exam out of the blue. The moment she told me that she had done it just because it was being done for free at her school (like every year), I had a weird feeling. Then came the weird days that followed that confirmed my ‘gut feeling’ was more than just a gut feeling.

• My mom told me that they had discovered a lump
• My mom told me that 80% of women her age have lumps that are benign
• My mom got a biopsy
• I stayed up almost all night several nights worrying about her, and the feeling I had inside
• I stepped off my front porch to take my daughter to daycare one day while waiting to hear back about my mom’s biopsy and decided I was going to think positive.
• My phone rang, it was my mom; it happened the moment I saw the sun was shining and the moment my feet hit the pavement to walk to the car in my driveway.

I will never forget the feeling. My mom told me with a pause after saying my name; that she had cancer.

My mom is very fortunate and undergoing radiation treatments with bravery; my mother-in-law also had a similar battle with breast cancer a few years ago. But at that moment I just wanted my mom to know how much I loved her, how much I’ve always loved her. I wanted her to really digest my words I was saying to her.

I think it’s a great thing that baseball does on Mother’s Day weekend, allowing the players to use the pink bats in honor of all of our mom’s as well as the fight against breast cancer; to raise awareness.

Baseball has loosened it’s policy and went from just allowing Louisville Slugger to produce the pink bats to now any manufacturer.

It’s also went from just being a Sunday Mother’s Day tradition to an all-weekend thing. Some of the players even got pink shoes produced for the weekend. Pink is a good color. It’s the new black. It pops.

Today I am thinking of my mom. I’m certainly short of the perfect son, and we have had our bumps together through life. There are a few chapters that I would have written differently if I could re-do the script.

But the fact remains she’s my mom, and I love her for her imperfections as much as I do her strengths. She is directly responsible for a lot of the blessings I have in life and my fondest memories. She’s been a great mom. Her courage, strength, and faith are unbelievably inspiring to me. I hope she knows on this day how much her children love and appreciate her, although I don’t think that a parent can grasp it fully just as a child may never fully grasp the love that parent has for them.

From now on; for the rest of my life, on this weekend when baseball uses the pink bats, I will be thinking about my mom and how in the spring of 2017 my life was affected by the bullshit evil of cancer. I will be reminded of my mom’s courage, strength, and faith even in the face of many unknowns. I will be reminded of in a time and in a place in my life – my mom always did the best she knew how – and how I appreciate it.

Call your mom today or grab her and hug her tight. Tell her how much you appreciate some memory she gave you when you were young or old. Make sure you try to put it into words in an extra special way that might stick in her head. I love you mom, although you will never see this; you’re always on my mind.