15 Years

Yesterday Alison and I celebrated 15 years of marriage. I really don’t know where the time has gone. When we got married, we were so young. We were still in school, figuring out what our careers and our life together would look like, and still at the very beginning of everything. Now, nearly half a lifetime later, we are on our greatest adventure together, being parents. It is wild to think about everything that has happened between then and now, and even more wild to think that so much of the life we love today is made up of things we could not have fully imagined back then.

To celebrate our anniversary, we went to the Bees game last night. We got some of the Cox Automotive tickets from Alison’s work, which meant we were in the Terrace Club. We love that experience. We walked over early to the game. It was a lovely day, maybe a little warm on the walk over, but it turned into a beautiful summer night for baseball.

We got to the stadium right after the gates opened and headed up to the Terrace Club. These seats include dinner in the second deck clubhouse dining room, which makes the whole night feel a little more relaxed. The food is pretty good, and Madeline was thrilled because they had green beans and pasta, two of her favorites. That was a win right out of the gate. They also had funnel fries for dessert, which were surprisingly tasty.

Madeline was in such high spirits. She loves baseball games and was thrilled to be heading to the stadium. She was just delightful all evening, which is always a gift when you are keeping a toddler out well past her normal bedtime.

After we ate, we had a little time before the game started, so we headed downstairs and walked over to ride the safety train. Before the game starts there is next to no line, which was perfect. We got to ride the train around the ballpark, and Madeline loved every second of it. Afterward, we walked around the stadium for a bit while we waited for the game to start.

Alison and Madeline did a little ballpark yoga in a grassy area, which was very cute. There was also a homeschool company called The Good and the Beautiful giving away free books, so of course we snagged one. Then it turned out we also won a free water bottle. Madeline took a few minutes to color a bookmark and was just living her best life. It's great how many little activities there are at the ballpark before the game even starts. For Madeline, it all feels like part of the baseball experience.

We headed back up to our seats to watch the game and got popcorn. Madeline loves nothing as much as eating popcorn while watching a baseball game, so she was in heaven. We were having fun. There was a lot of offense on both sides, which always makes for an entertaining game, but it is not exactly an expeditious game.

At one point the Isotopes hit a home run and I jokingly said, “Throw it back.” Next thing I know, Mads is chanting, “Throw it back, throw it back.” It was so cute. She was also very into dancing to the music, clapping, and cheering, “Let’s go Bees.” It was great. She has really learned the rhythm of going to a baseball game. The cheering, the music, the snacks, the mascots, the produce race, the wandering around. She gets it, and she loves it.

Tonight the Bees were playing under their new alternate identity, the Dirty Sodas. They play as the Dirty Sodas every Wednesday throughout the year. We aren’t the biggest fans of the Dirty Sodas identity, but it was still kind of fun. They also have a special mascot on Dirty Sodas nights, in addition to Bumble. That would be Swiggy.

Madeline really wanted to see Bumble, so we headed to Bumble’s house to meet him during the third inning. On our way over, we ran into Swiggy, and Madeline gave them a really big high five. Still, we just love Bumble. When it was her turn, Madeline gave him a big hug and then, of course, wanted to get a picture. We love Bumble. He has become such a fun part of these games for us.

Then we headed back to our seats to watch more of the game. The Dirty Sodas just didn’t seem to have it last night. Every reliever they brought in had an 8+ ERA. Every time the Dirty Sodas seemed to have life, they would give up more runs to the Isotopes. By the time we left in the eighth inning, they were down 10-7.

The game would actually go to extras, and the Dirty Sodas would lose to the Isotopes 14-13 in the 10th inning. We were glad we left. It was past 9 p.m. when we got through the seventh, which is well past Madeline’s bedtime. We had changed her into jammies in the sixth inning, and she fell asleep on the way home.

Alison and I talked a lot on our walk to and from the stadium about how we could never have envisioned the life we have today when we got married 15 years ago. Back then we were just kids, excited to be married and start a life together. We had dreams and plans, but we had no real idea what the next 15 years would hold.

Now here we are, walking to a baseball game from our house, with our little girl in the stroller, talking about work and home projects and bedtime and the funny things Madeline says. It is such an ordinary version of life in some ways, but it also feels pretty extraordinary when I stop and think about it. The house, the jobs, the neighborhood, the kid, the life we have built together. It is all even better than we could have dreamed.

Fifteen years feels like a long time, and in many ways it is. We have grown up together. We have changed, learned, struggled, traveled, worked hard, and found so much joy along the way. I am so grateful Alison and I got married 15 years ago. I am grateful for the life we have built, and I am grateful that after all this time, she is still the person I want to walk home from the ballpark with.