Yesterday I saw Travis Wood's dad at Wrigley---it was clearly his dad, as it looked exactly like him except for gray hair, very very handsome---and he was wearing a 2013 All-Star hat and All-Star shirt. He must have been so proud of his son, so proud that, weeks later, he wore the All-Star gear as his son pitched at Wrigley, maybe hoping someone would ask him about the game, and he could launch into the story of his son, who was a question mark about even making the Opening Day roster, was chosen to be on the All-Star Team.
For some reason, it choked me up, because I realized that, no matter what level of success a child reaches, his parents are just as proud of him as they were when he took his first step, brought home his first report card, won his first trophy, graduated high school, pitched in the Major League All-Star game. All my students' parents at the State Championship game in their WCS gear--I pictured his dad in the middle of all of that when Travis was in high school, and it just struck me as a universally beautiful thing, the unfailing love of a parent.
And tonight when I talked to Travis, and told him I saw his dad wearing the gear, Travis smiled bigger than I've ever seen him smile, and I saw immediately that the feeling was mutual.
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