What Matters Most

So I have been trying to write a blog since I wrote my now famous one on baseball. It is hard to top that blog because I really do love baseball. I wrote one last week and deleted it because I didn’t want it to bite me in the rear later, plus I was doing what was done to me and that never solves the problem. So here is my blog on what matters most. Saturday started off like most other Saturdays in the Fallis home; breakfast, laundry, shopping, and of course baseball. I was sitting next to one of my friends and her son was pitching. This was his first time pitching after coming off the dl. She was stressed and giving him a few pointers. She then told me she was going to have a heart attack. I informed her I knew CPR, she then let me know if that happened I was to call the fire department and I needed to choose what fireman gave her mouth to mouth. We laughed and then the next inning he was playing first base again. I was at a friend’s house when I got a very disturbing phone call on Saturday night. Tyler called in a panic and told me he was having a hard time seeing in the light. He was scared and I told him we would see the eye doctor on Monday. I didn’t think much of it during dinner and called my friend (the pitcher’s mom) after my dinner. She asked some questions that I didn’t know the answer to. I told her I would find out and I would call her tomorrow. Then I did what you should never do, go onto the internet. I am sure that some of these medical websites are very good but, it can cause moms undue stress and pressure. By Sunday morning I was a wreck, I had hardly slept the night before and it really showed. Tyler had answered one of the questions that the eye doctor had and that was not the answer I wanted. Again, I had spent too much time looking stuff up and was now an expert in the area. The only problem is I didn’t understand what they were talking about and this caused me to worry more. I knew this; Tyler was very nervous and worried about his eyes. His eye pressure was high last year when he had his checkup and high eye pressure is a sign of glaucoma. He hasn’t once complained about his eyes other than the light is causing him stress and that was almost a year ago. So I knew I needed to know worry. I talked to someone else who knew what they were talking about and I had some idea of what to expect today. Tyler got up this morning for seminary with I am sure very little sleep, I know this because there was a lot of tossing and turning in my bed and I heard him up quite a few times. He posted on FB the following, “I'm beyond nervous for today. I am already terrified about going to the doctors but I'm terrified because I think my eyes are getting worse....” This does not make a mom feel any better. I went to the doctors and I got to have my heart attack moment with my baseball friend. Tyler’s pressures in his eyes are at 28. This is not real good but it could be way worse. Tyler will start some meds on Friday that will help prevent him from losing his sight. He won’t go blind today so that is a great sign. He also will be able to watch movies and read books him momma doesn’t like. His plans for making some extra cash won’t work out. (Sorry Tyler, you are not going to sale MJ) Today I figured out what matters most, not that I hadn’t already known but this helped me clarify my list. First, my kids mean more than anything in the world to me. Like most moms or parents that I know I would take a bullet for my kids. Second, the health of my kids is more important than my own health. Third, prayers work, we didn’t get the news I wanted today but we got news that was still a blessing. Today’s news could have been a lot worse. Lastly, I am blessed more than I deserve to be. Our Father in Heaven wants to bless us and today I felt those blessing. I am grateful for priesthood blessings and those men who are worthy to give them. I am also grateful to those wives that let their husband serve my family last night. I had more than one friend tell me they would drop what they were doing so that they could be with me today if it was bad news. Tyler’s journey is only beginning but, because of his support staff. This includes all of his friends and their mommas. I am going to need everyone on his support staff and mine to remind him to wear a hat while at work. This will give his eyes a little more protection. Tomorrow is another day and I will sleep like a baby tonight, if I can get it cool enough in the house. I am looking forward another baseball game, checking spelling homework, and the normalcy of my life. Thank goodness for great blessings.

Why I Love Baseball

I grew up in a sports family. I didn’t play sports mainly because I stunk at it but all of my siblings did. I was more into drama, music, and debate. I know some of you are thinking debate, who knew. My dad gave me some very good advice my junior year of high school. He said, “Florence, you don’t play sports but boys like girls that at least know something about sports. I would suggest that you learn the rules so you can talk sports with guys.” I followed his advice and followed the top three sports in my home; golf, basketball, and football. Golf was and still is the most important sport and then the other two followed. I sat with my dad on Saturdays and Sundays and learned what the penalties the refs were calling, what the rules were, and how to keep score. I also learned to pick a favorite team and not be a fickle fan. I don’t know if my dad has a favorite NFL team because most of the football we watched was college. I know that his favorite team for college hoops or football was whomever BYU was playing or the UTES.

I have followed the NFL and NBA for years. I have been to a handful of Utah Jazz games and a few Sacramento Kings games. I have never been to a NFL game but I love the 49ers. This goes back to my love affair with Steve Young. If you lived in Havasu when he showed up the LDS church you might remember as I knocked younger children over to get his autograph. Not a proud moment in my life but I will guarantee not one of those kids knew any of his stats. Plus he has always been on my list of freebies. Meaning that if he shows up at my door, I have to leave no questions asked.

Over the years I started to watch baseball. I didn’t mind baseball but found it to be boring to watch. Mainly because some games can last for a LONG time, there is no time limit like the NBA or NFL. Yes, I know that with time outs, penalties, and OT there is no set time but usually games are only about 2 hours. Sometimes baseball games can last way longer than that. But when MLB founded the Arizona Diamondbacks in 1998 I started to follow baseball. It was fun seeing them win the World Series in 2001. There were those that wanted the Yankees to win just because of what had happened earlier in the fall but the Dbacks came out on top.

Last summer one of my favorite Telesis families invited me to watch their boys play little league. I had supported these boys before if there was a car wash or other fundraisers but I had never been to a game. I found myself so grateful that this mom could ask me to come and that the boys were excited that I came. I started going to Sara Park and traveled a few times to Kingman. It was the best thing this mom could have done for me. Since then I have looked forward to springtime because that meant that baseball season would start again.

This last week the girls and I went to see 7 baseball games in 6 days. Now remember my kids don’t play sports. They are a lot like their mom in this area. So 7 games when you don’t have kids that play is incredible, in fact on Wednesday night I felt like a celebrity at the 2 games I attended. The boys from school, (because I haven’t been to any girls games yet) have been so excited to see me. Their parents think I am really going out of my way to see them play. To be honest I love watching baseball.

This year baseball has a whole new meaning for me. Why you might ask? Well because I get to go to my first MLB game. I don’t get to sit in the 6 dollar seats (which has now turned into rule 6 from my friend) I get to sit where I might be able to catch a foul ball if the batter hits the ball late. I might get to see a homerun hit because of the stadium I am going to, but more importantly like when you take your child to Disneyland for the first time you get to enjoy the park more because you are seeing it through their eyes. My friend gets to see me watch a game for the first time.

Now, my dad has laughed because growing up baseball would not have been a game he would have sat down and watched but he is starting to understand my love affair with the game. It is a thinking man’s game. It is a game that you have to have patience to watch but it is worth the wait. It is a game where the rules are easy to understand and there are not penalty flags being thrown. What is there to like about the game? Well you can spit sunflower seeds; I know you can do that at a football game, but not at a basketball game. My girls are getting very good at that and I would like to thank Coach Bagshaw for that. It is a game where if you have to go to the restroom there is still time for your team to come out of their funk. It is a game where most of us can play. You might not be really good but you can still toss the ball to your child. As Coach Bagshaw would say, “It’s like you are just playing catch kid, just throw to the glove.” I would like end by saying, “Play ball!”