Ranger's

Yesterday our family went to our first Ranger's game without Daniel.

Last summer was the first time we had taken Daniel to a Ranger's game where he was able to just sit in the regular seats.

The first few years of Daniel's life it was too hot for him to be out there.   Even if the seats were in the shade, the humidity combined with the temperature was too much for his little body for such a long outing.  His little heart had to work too hard to keep his body cool.  As he got older and fell in love with ice, it became easier to keep him cool and hydrated.   So last spring, Sam's team was playing in a tournament just 5 minutes from Ranger's ballpark.  It was a Friday night and their game ended around 8:30.  So I said to the kids (Brent was working...so it was just me +5) "Let's go to the Ranger's game!  It's Friday fireworks, our seats will be nosebleed, but let's go!"

I think my oldest was not overly excited, but everyone else was on board so we headed over to the ballpark.

It was a loooooooong walk from the parking lot to the ticket office, the ticket area to the 300 level and then maneuvering our way through the crowd to our seats with 40lb. Daniel on my hip the whole time!  I was sweating by the time we sat down.  Oh my goodness though, he was so excited!  Baseball was the only thing Daniel would watch on TV.  He didn't even watch an entire movie, cartoon or anything in his 6 years, but he would sit on the couch and watch an entire baseball game.  He would also watch "Quick Pitch" every morning with the baseball highlights from the day before.  When it would get close to the end of baseball season we would record episodes of Quick Pitch to replay for him in the offseason.  :)  So he was VERY excited to be at the real game.

Not more than 2 minutes after sitting down, the Ranger's batting exploded...homeruns, hits, music, and a come from behind win.  So now Daniel was hooked.  We went 5 more times last summer with him...

And thanks to tickets we were given through Hope Kids we were able to watch the Texas Ranger's win the western division!  And on that Sunday Daniel ran the bases.

The very first time Daniel attended a Ranger's game was in the summer of 2011.  Because of Daniel's physical limitations that I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I had written to the Texas Ranger's and asked if we could purchase 7 seats within a suite (we could not afford a suite itself...and even the 7 seats would have been a stretch at the time).  They did not let us, instead they gave our family a suite for a Friday night fireworks game so that Daniel could attend a baseball game.  I made a video from that awesome night.

Ranger's Game 2011

I am so thankful Daniel had the opportunity to go last summer.   As a fan of the game and the Ranger's he watched from good seats to cheap seats and everything in between.  And I have those memories stored up in my heart and mind.  Good, good memories.  Some of the best.

Yesterday was hard for Brent and I. Many tears from us both and wishes that he had been there with us.

Because of his love for baseball we had a bat and ball put on his shiny blue coffin.  I know he would have loved it.