I grew up around baseball. My father was very involved with the baseball league in Clearwater Florida and that meant that we, as family, spent a lot of time at the baseball fields. I worked in the concession stand. My mom bought the candy. My brother played. My dad umpired. I was a ball girl. My mom made my uniform.
I really loved it.
I then “graduated” to being a score keeper which was a step up. It meant I had to understand the calls, know the strike zone, and pay attention. That was tough because at that point, I was more into watching the boys because there were a lot of them. At least as the score keeper, I knew each of the player’s names.
Because of that strong influence I had as a child and my knowledge of baseball, I think in baseball metaphors - even now. Sadly none of my three boys really played baseball long. We are in Texas after all so it was all about soccer and lacrosse, much to my father’s disappointment. But baseball knowledge is home to me.
That is why I watched a video about R.A. Dickey. He is a professional baseball player with an interesting story to tell. He told his story in a video of I AM SECOND. I will offer a trigger alert. He talks about being sexually abused as a child and how it continued to be how he defined himself until a series of events helped him to learn to let go.
If you are needing to let go of something, watch this video and enjoy the baseball metaphor at the very end. You have to hear his story though so don’t scroll ahead. R.A. Dickey talks openly about a subject that carries an incredible stigma, for women and men. We need to allow ourselves to be in the conversations together so those who continue to be effected by their history of being abused know they are not alone.
I applaud R.A. Dickey for his transparency and his story of letting go.
Until next time,
