My dad has had a long year. He suffered a freak accident a few months ago that resulted in an 8 week hospitalization and rehab. After being home for a few weeks he went back with a bad infection. Only just this week has his home health finally ended. We very easily could have lost him.

A few weeks ago my dad asked me to go to a Royals baseball game with him. I loved the idea, but the week that he asked was one of the busiest I have had all year. I completely forgot about the request. The following weekend I watched as three families lost their fathers. As I looked at the report, I was reminded of the gravity of what I do every day. I provide care and comfort while sons and daughters lose their dads. I reached out to my dad, and we scheduled a ballgame.

We planned the night very simply. We decided to arrive right as the game was starting. We didn’t expect to have the stamina to make it through the whole game if we got there too early. We left his house at about 6:30pm. I wanted him to have door-to-door service so I picked him up in my new car. I kind of wanted to show off. He hadn’t ridden in it yet.

Just to show off, I floored it as we got onto I-70. We may have gone over the speed limit just a little. It set the tone for the whole night. The rule breaking was in full swing. We were not to be denied! I broke the speed limit as we merged into traffic in my Chrysler 300 with window tinting that just might not be legal. We got to the stadium safe and sound. I’m not crazy you know.

We arrived just as the national anthem was being sung. We stood at attention outside the gates with everyone else. We were blessed to get a parking spot nice and close as well. Upon entry we decided to sit somewhere different than the tickets we purchased. The first spot we picked was a little too loud for our liking, so we moved to a quieter spot.

Nobody questioned our spot. We had done it! We were actually sitting in seats we didn’t pay for. It was invigorating! For two men who are generally rule obsessed, this was a big deal! We enjoyed a night of baseball. We got to see Salvador Perez hit his 47th home run of the season. We jumped up with the rest of the crowd and demanded a curtain call. Salvy obliged his adoring fans!

My dad had a bag of peanuts. I was just thankful to have my dad.

When we got to the seventh inning, it was starting to thin out a little. In a stroke of genius we decided to move even closer. Go big or go home was our battle cry! We marched down even closer and found a great spot that appeared to be abandoned.

We sat down to enjoy our new seats. Within about two minutes an usher came by and noticed us.

“Do you have tickets for these seats?” She asked.

In a moment of absolute defiance I replied, “No ma’am.”

”Okay, well, you need to move back to the seats you paid for.” She replied with a smile on her face.

Without complaint we promptly got up and moved to the seats we were previously sitting in and hadn’t actually paid for. We had a chuckle together and finished the game. We stayed for every moment of action as we watched our team win.

It’s real easy to take for granted the things we have until we don’t have them anymore. It’s really easy to do this with family. We just kind of assume they will always be with us. We all know this isn’t true, but I think we forget to act on it at times. What I do for a living can be a very sobering reminder of the frailty of life. It felt good to spend an evening with my dad watching a game we both love.

We are already making plans to catch some Sporting KC Soccer this fall. Maybe we can even find a few rules to break there too.

James

James worked on-and-off as an LPN for over 20 years. In 2014 he completed a bridge program and became an RN. James became a hospice nurse in January 2015. He lives in the Kansas City area with his wife of over 30 years, 4 daughters and 2 sons in law.