Maybe this year

All this late night baseball watching reminds me of the last time the Red Sox made it to the World Series, 3 years ago. I was returning from my last trip to London, having just celebrated my third wedding anniversary. I spent the day at the cemetery, straightening up the old flowers, planting some lavender in a planter since I was unsure when I was going to be able to get back to take care of things. That night I went out to dinner with my sister-in-law to an American themed grill, and along with her boyfriend we went and saw Layercake. I cried myself to sleep. That was my third wedding anniversary.

My departing flight to Boston was at Heathrow. There was quite a line at the American gate we were departing from, and I asked the man in front of me what the score was from the previous night's game. I was sure the Sox were out of it. They had just suffered the 19-8 loss in Game 3 the night before. I was already quite low, and I remember sighing and repeating the "maybe next year" mantra.

When they did finally win the ALSC and went on to the World Series against the Cardinals, I was still taking Lorazepam because I was not sleeping through the night. I remember hearing my parents ask me about the games each morning, the scores, etc. I wore Tim's old Red Sox hat I had gotten him when we first met. He had taken me to see the Sox play, my first visit ever to Fenway. Mo Vaughn was still there and I was amazed by everything I could see in our seats. This was May of 1998, Red Sox versus Anaheim.

Last night I watched most of the game at the first station with my husband. It was a quiet night, no calls for the 3 hours I spent there and it was a good game. The excitement started happening once I got home. The late nights are killing me but it's an easy sacrifice. Soon the baseball year will be over and we'll start dreaming about next year.