Loyalties

Unlike "love it or leave it" bumper sticker patriots, I do not think loyalty means putting on blinders. It does mean that I weep at failures, rejoice at virtues, and stick around even when the former outweigh the latter.

With that understanding, there are a few things in this life to which I have unswerving loyalty. God and the Church-- and my country-- and my baseball team.

Hello, my name is Jane Ellen, and I'm a Cubs fan.



It's a genetic thing. I got it from my mom. She was such a fan that I was almost born at home. When, three weeks overdue with her first child, she finally went into labor, she was watching a double header on TV. She refused to leave for the hospital until the games were over.

We went to at least one game every year, riding in on the train with a cooler of iced tea and Mom's godawful ugly tapestry totebag full of sandwiches and snacks. Other days, the radio or TV coverage was the background soundtrack of our home, as much part of summer as fireflies at night and the wading pool on the driveway during the day. When I was 13, her health deteriorated and she became housebound, so she couldn't go anymore. I learned how to keep a scorecard sitting beside her on the bed after school, watching the games. I learned a lot about hope... and devastating reality. Hey, anyone can have a bad century, right?

This year... well, given the team's history (we do not forget 1969, I assure you!), I'm afraid to say much. She died 10 years ago, but oh, somewhere Mom is smiling. So in her honor I'm posting this current version of her "theme song" that Dad sent me today.



Amen!