Game One for Us at Giant's Stadium

After our 22 year old son died from a pediatric neuromuscular disease, our lives were lost.  Since he was our only son, we were suddenly stripped of our parenting duties.  With his illness we were medically savy and provided skilled medical care to him on an hourly basis.  His death placed a void in our lives, and we were at a loss as to how to continue on without him.  Traveling seemed to be the answer, and we headed to Florida then on to Key West for part of the winter.  We were still devastated and we knew there were no quick fixes.  We’d have to live day by day and work to get through this time without our precious son.  Our next trip was scheduled for June, and during this trip we decided to try to go to every major league ballpark as part of our healing process.  If we had trips planned it helped us cope with the void in our lives.

In June, we made our trip to San Francisco for a family event.  We talked the family into attending a Giant’s baseball game.  We used Stub Hub to find tickets for about 115.00 each.  We included my husband’s brother and his wife, sister and her husband, and our nephew.  This was our first experience with Stub Hub, and we navigated the purchase of tickets with my brother-in-law’s assistance.  The tickets were printed at home on an ink jet printer.  The only caution there is to keep that paper dry.  Ink jet print will run if it becomes wet. Thanks to our families’ familiarity with the ropes, we made a reservation at MoMos which is a restaurant right across the street from the stadium.  MoMos has valet service for $30.00, and it was a matter of pulling up giving the valet the car key and going in for drinks and appetizers pre-game.  I liked to think of it as a high class tail gating party.  This kept us from searching San Francisco for a parking place, and was well worth the fee.

Entry to the park included a brief search through my purse – any carried bags are searched prior to entry to the stadium.  The Stub Hub tickets were scanned, and we were in the stadium.  Giants Stadium is new and fan friendly.  I even found my favorite Texas beer Shiner Bock at one of the nearby vendors.  The weather was cold for me, but my family had me fixed up with a Giant’s jacket and a bright orange scarf against the San Francisco chill.  The game was great Giants vs. Washington.  The game went into extra innings with Freddy Sanchez singling into right field to score Chris Stewart in the 13^th inning for the win Giants over Nationals 5-4.

At the end of the game, we crossed the street, and the MoMos’ valet service brought our car to curb side for the drive home.  Everyone in our party had a fun time, and it was a memorable family night.  We still felt the sting of the loss of our son, and began to plan our next baseball outing.  At least with the planning we channeled our grief into our favorite pastime.