The At Bat (Catharsis)

 As most of the people who know my family are aware, my daughter was diagnosed with late stage Cancer at the young age of 14.  She had been tired for a long time and just not acting the same.  She went to see the doctor multiple times and after months of no answers, we finally heard the dreaded words that no parent wants to hear. ¨Your daughter has cancer¨

Some back story on my daughter.  She was always a very competitive and powerful pitcher and hitter in baseball and in softball wherever she played on the field you would never want to test her arm.  Shortly after she was cut from the modified team, which was an absolute shock, as she was in the top 5 of all female student athletes in her school and in softball hands down.  She worked her ass off just for a couple mediocre coaches to pic kids with connections over her.  Her friends said she did awesome at the tryouts and they were just as surprised.  I mention this because this was right before we found out she had cancer, so even with the struggles she was having with her body she still gave it everything she had.  

I remember being extremely frustrated and a reaction I have never had came out and I punched a wall that immediately gave me a broken hand.  I could not feel the pain through the anger of my daughter being screwed over by the coach that she had learned to trust and admire.  

Fast forward a couple years after an incredible fight against cancer.  My daughter was invited to be a honorary member of the Alfred University Softball team.  This was one of the best D3 teams in the nation at the time with some incredible players and an amazing coaching staff.  They allowed her to take some swings against some heat throwing pitchers and even after what cancer had done to her she still had that drive to be the best.  She was able to hit off of these pitchers (not bombs, but good contact).

Another fast forward.  My daughter was now back at school, but still struggling with an abundance of issues caused by the very poison that saved her life.  She worked extremely hard to make the Varsity softball team at her high school and she had a coach that cared about all of his players.  She had not had an at bat in a couple years and she was ready, trust me.  The team was getting beat pretty bad and it was in the later innings, the pitcher for the other team was on fire.  Finally I see my daughter grab a helmet and her bat.  My heart started pounding and my emotions grabbed me up and consumed me in this moment.  Everything was in slow motion.  She gets up to the batters box and the pitch comes in, she hits it hard and it flies deep to left field about ten feet away from the wall it as caught in the air and she was out.

After the out I was crying along with my wife, not because she got out, but because she was able to do something that she never thought she would be able to do again just a couple years prior.  Coming from near death and a plethora of issues she endured, she was able to swing that bat and hammer the ball into the outfield.  As she was going back to her dugout I met her at the entrance where we embraced and I cried like a baby.  While in this embrace I looked up and seen her coach near third base wiping tears from his eyes.  If I could explain the feeling at that point in time, I would, but I honestly can´t.  NEGU was and is a part of our lives.  Never Ever Give Up!  That at bat was the most important of her life and will always be remembered as the day she stepped back up to the plate after beating late stage cancer.  Just like she smacked that ball she smacked cancer and is now 23 and living her life in college.  I love her and the drive she has to succeed no matter what.