My life has always been anything but ordinary. Every summer and every school year has revolved around one thing: softball. I had to miss parties, sleepovers, and vacations to practice a sport I already played every day. Missing vacations and time with my friends used to feel like the end of the world and going to softball tournaments on the weekends and practices every day felt like the world’s biggest chore. I complained so much I might as well have been dragged by my ankles kicking and screaming. It wasn’t ever that I hated softball or didn’t enjoy it, and it definitely wasn’t because I didn’t like my teammates; however when you do something every day [for as long as I have], all other interests get pushed aside into another life. Although I could have gone to the sleepovers, vacations, and saved a hell of a lot of money, the person sitting here today wouldn’t change a thing.Â
Every time I threw a fit for missing something because of softball, my dad would tell me, “You’re going to thank me one day. The things you don’t want to do are the ones that will shape the person you will one day become”. I have never heard such wise words from my father in my life. He likes to think he knows everything about everything, and he doesn’t, but in this case he was right. I will never tell him, but I live by these words now. The hardest things are the things you don’t want to do, but they are also the ones that will make you the person you wish to be.Â
Every practice I never wanted to go to, every mile I did not want to run, and every weekend softball took from me made me into the person I am today. Softball has given me a reason to live. It has taught me how to really love something. I have learned the meaning of hard work and how to live with passion. I know how to support the people who are important to me, and I am their biggest cheerleader. I have learned how to find bright lights in the darkest of corners and how to celebrate the little successes. Softball has taught me how to handle hardship and how to bounce back after disaster. But most importantly, it has made me realize how many people are in my corner.Â
The relationships I have made with the people I have met in the last 14 years will forever be my greatest achievement. I have been through hell and back with some of them, and they will always be my family. We have supported each other through death, injury, depression, and our biggest losses. To always have someone by my side no matter where I turn will always be my greatest comfort. Some of the girls I have played with are my best of friends and I don’t know what I would ever do without them. My coaches will always be my voice of reason and the greatest ear to talk to. The families I have met over the years will always be my biggest fans and I theirs.Â
To have something to love for the next 3 years along with the last 14 years has been a gift. If I were to say one thing to the sport of softball it would be thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for the life I live.