A moment in the life of a girl

    As I walked toward the fence behind the batters box, bright lights suddenly popped on, and there he was. Dad was on the pitchers mound warming up. He looked so different than he did throwing pitches at home in the backyard, and I couldn't take my eyes off him. As he wound his arm around and then let loose of the softball, it flew into the catchers mitt with a loud pop.  

     My fingers looped themselves into the chain link fence behind the catcher as I stared at my Dad mesmerized.

     I knew that he was going to pitch that night, we'd all been talking about it for days, but now, seeing him in uniform lit up by the lights with crowds of people watching and cheering, he was so much more than just my Dad. He was, suddenly, some other incredible thing. He was intense, powerful, strong, confident...and oh, so handsome. 

     And as the sky grew dark, Dad looked at me and winked as he ran to the dugout to join his team. I saw him stop and say something to the umpire before the other teams pitcher made his way to the mound.     

    The umpire took his place behind the catcher and looked at me. "Your Dad asked me to tell you to take your fingers out of the fence, honey," he told me, "And to step back away from the backstop. Fly balls sometimes go over the fence." 

     "Okay", I replied pulling my hands away. "I've never seen my Dad pitch in a real game before?" I told him. "Oh yeah?" The Umpire replied. "Well you're in for a real treat tonight then, because your Dad's a real good pitcher."

     And as I walked away from that moment in time, I knew that Dad would always be more to me than he had before that moment. Because in the minutes that I watched him through the fence he had turned into something I had never seen before, and I would never forget it. 

     And later that night, when I stood in the concession line, Dad was on the pitchers mound again, and this time the game was in full swing. When our team cheered, I turned to watch Dad running back to the dugout as his teammates slapped him on the back. 

     "That Pitcher is my Dad!" I shouted to everyone who could hear.  "He's my Dad!"