I love baseball! I have since I was a little girl. So the World Series is a big deal for me. I watch it every year and my mind is flooded with memories of my Dad. He was never a huge sports fan but he’d watch the series because he knew how much I loved it.

When I was 8 or 9 years old, I asked him if he wanted to make a wager on the series. We agreed to bet a quarter and that started our long tradition. I assure you, it is the only form of gambling I have ever done!  The tradition was I always got to pick which team I wanted and he cheered on the other team. When I got older, our stakes increased. By the time I was in high school, our bet was “Loser takes winner out to dinner to the restaurant of winners choice”. Luckily, Dad and I had the same favorite restaurant so it was really just a matter of who paid! And it was always just he and I. My Mom and sister didn’t go. It was always something so special between us.

We continued this tradition every year until 2011. He passed away in June of that year. Then October came and with it, the news that the Texas Rangers and the St. Louis Cardinals would be in the World Series. I missed my Dad so much. I couldn’t stop thinking about him. My grief now was so much stronger than it had been all summer. I didn’t want to miss watching the Series but couldn’t bare knowing I wouldn’t get to talk to him.

Then one day at lunch while sitting with my friend and coworker Maddie, I told  her what Dad and I used to do. Tears were flowing from my eyes when I explained how hard this year would be without him.

“Well, I’ll do it with you in memory of your Dad.” Maddie said.

“Really? You didn’t even know my Dad.” I replied.

“That doesn’t matter. I’ll carry on your tradition in his honor.” she said.

I was stunned and so excited! It made me feel that Dad was still with me. She agreed to the same terms; I choose my team, she takes the other. And loser takes winner out to dinner to the restaurant of her choice. In keeping with the tradition, neither of our husbands were invited. It was just us girls. We’ve had so many fun dinners and lots of laughs through the years. Even our coworkers would be anxious to hear which of us was ahead in the Series and which restaurant we were going to pick.

Maddie is one of my true “heart friends” and such a blessing in my life. It has been 14 years since we began and we still carry on the tradition. Now that we live so far apart, we can’t go out to dinner together. So we have changed the bet to “Loser makes a $100 donation to the charity of winners choice”. I won last year (Go Dodgers!) and I chose the American Cancer Society in honor of Dad because he died of lung cancer. This years Series starts in 3 days. I’m choosing the LA Dodgers again (I have been a fan since the 1970’s) which means Maddie is cheering for the Toronto Blue Jays (which is great for her because she was born and raised in Canada).             .

I will always love baseball, my Dad and Maddie. They all bring such joy to my life.

“Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”   Exodus 20:12 NIV

“As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.”   Psalm 103:13 NIV

“A friend loves at all time…”  Proverbs 17:17 NIV