Back when I was a kid, tee ball, softball and baseball were the "it" things to do. I remember watching my sister play teeball and being sad that I had to wait 2 more years to play in the dirt. Oddly enough, when it was my turn, the boys on the team never let the girls really play. Our coaches would tell us to walk to the grass and then take 20 steps and stand there. I mean, what 5 year old hits a ball off a tee that far? And in the event that a ball did come out to a girl, a boy ran to us and took it out of our glove to throw it in. Needless to say, I skipped the second year of teeball. I did however come back the following year to play softball. I thought I was really good at it and it was really fun, until I started playing soccer. A sport I was in fact good at! During my career as a softball player, I discovered I could run pretty fast, making bunting the ONLY way I could get on base. I wanted to be a pitcher, but wasn't very good at it. I wanted to be a catcher but found out really quickly that with all the equipment on, I could not get the ball to second base from home plate. At the ripe age of 13, I decided softball would never be for me!
Fast foward to being a college graduate...softball now means a bunch of friends getting together with a couple cases of beer for a friendly game. I thought PERFECT! My brother has always played pick up softball with his friends and seemed to enjoy it. One summer afternoon, Tommy left to go play softball...no one thought much of it. Then about 2 hours later, I got a call from his buddy and he said "Tommy got hit in the head. He was pitching and the ball came off the bat right back at him." If you know my family, you can imagine that my first reaction was laughter. What a funny site that would be to see. Then...a few hours later, my dad called me to tell me they were rushing him to the ER. He ended up having a fracture in his skull and had to stay in the hospital for a week! From that day on, I was always apprehensive playing softball to the point where in one game, I was catching and the umpire told me I had to stand in front of him....I wasn't allowed to stand behind him. I haven't played softball in years because clearly, co-ed indoor soccer is a much safer sport;)
This past Thursday, I was playing volleyball, in the championship which we sadly lost and I noticed a missed call from my aunt. Didn't think much of it because it was late so I wasn't concerned. As we finished playing, my brother called me as he always does to make sure I am ok to drive (which is really sweet of him) and to tell me, my cousin Dan (aka CD, Cousin Dan) broke his leg earlier in the night. How you ask....PLAYING SOFTBALL!!! His foot got caught under the fence and his leg hit the metal bar in the fence breaking his tibia AND fibula!! He had surgery yesterday morning to put a metal rod in his leg and make sure the bones are set. It was the FIRST inning!! I saw him yesterday after his surgery and he seems to be in good spirits but knows the road to recovery ahead of his will be long!!
So basically, I would like to warn all of you that SOFTBALL IS THE WORST!!! I will tell you right now, none of my kids will be playing that ridiculous sport....
Eat, Drink, and Be Mary
It was one of the most horrible things I have ever seen in my life. He literally wasted away to almost nothing. He thought he had no chance of survival. Somehow, some way, he was able to beat it and I am grateful for that every day. A dear friend of mine Jill, just lost her uncle to pancreatic cancer. 
