A friend - Pat Lawson - took this photo yesterday of the boys at JP's travel baseball game for Harris Baseball Club at Beech High School. To his unending delight, Joe served as the bat boy for a game HBC played against a team from Michigan.
I think this is one of my favorite photos ever taken of the boys together. It perfect encapsulates their relationship and their individual personalities at ages 11 and 15.
Joe's smile is, well . . . Joe. Still so innocent. The happiness in that smile and expressed on his face is so pure it's almost hard to look at, like a piercingly blue sky on a cold, winter morning.
Is there a better summer in your life than your 11 year old summer?
Joe was so, so happy to be in the dugout with JP and his teammates, all of whom were very kind to him. It was like he had 15 or 16 big brothers. Von and Dalton, JP's coaches, treated Joe like a player. He loved every minute of the game. In fact, he can't stop telling me how much fun it was to be in the dugout and to be the batboy for the JP's team.
His face is a mask of unadulterated joy.
I also see pride on Joe's face. Pride because he felt like he was part of JP's team, sure. More importantly, though, pride at being so close to his brother, in the dugout, and having a front row seat to watch JP interact with his teammates on and off the field and, well, compete.
Joe loves JP so much. As I've said, JP is his superhero. In this photo, Joe is happy to be with JP. Really with him.
JP's face, of course, indicates the intensity with which he is watching the game. He's laser focused here, as he's always laser focused in everything he does. Sports. Working out. Running. Studying. Always intense. Always focused. That's JP.
I see confidence in JP's face, too, and I like it. It's a quiet confidence, sure, because it's JP, but confidence nonetheless. When you work as hard as he does, on his own and at practice, it's easier to be confident.
In this photo, I see a boy, JP, who is comfortable with who he is and how he approaches life. I'm not sure you can ask for much more than that from a 15 year old about to begin his first year of high school. His compass always seems to point in the right direction, which is no small thing.
I see a seriousness in JP's face. That's him, through and through. If JP is going to do something, he's going to prepare, pay attention, and give every once of himself to the task at hand. That's just his approach to life. Why do something if you're not going to try to do it as well as you possibly can? He's locked in to the game, for sure.
I also see a trace of pride in JP's face. He's the ultimate teammate in every sport he plays. He thrives on being part of a team. He's selfless and always places team above self. He loves being part of something bigger than the individual and competing for a collective goal.
When he's not playing, JP is always the first player out of the dugout to congratulate his teammates after they get out of inning and jog from the field to the dugout. I see that time and time again and it's something that makes me very proud, as a father.
_______________________________
JP's HBC baseball team lost three games this week by a total of five runs and I could care less.
What I care about and what makes me so happy is that I was fortunate enough to see my sons in the dugout together, during a game, at a point in their lives when they could appreciate being in each other's company.
Jude and I are blessed beyond measure to have the sons that we have. I realize that and I think about it nearly every day.
I'm going to frame this photo and hang it in a place where I'll see it every day, so I can be reminded of this moment forever.
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