A Rangers Game for Preston

As I mentioned, not a big sports fan. It's funny how much sports really has saturated my life now, eight or nine years after writing an article about it for the college paper.

I remember writing about my first Thanksgiving Cowboys game, my first Cowboys game really, and how the parking lot smelled of frying turkey. The best part was that when we sat down in our seats, I was ready to act like an interested, supportive girlfriend that had ditched her family on thanksgiving for her boyfriend. Preston, however, pulled out his portable radio and put headphones on so he could listen to the radio broadcast, with no intention to interact with me during that game. And yes, I still married him. Thinking about it now, this may be why I've never totally accepted sports. I'm always on the outside of it. It's a thing Preston does without me and I am ok with that.

So for our eighth anniversary, I went to a Rangers baseball game with him. It was maybe the fourth one I've been to. And no matter how hot I was or how uncomfortable the seat was, or how close I was to the stranger next to me or how bored I was, I was determined not to complain. And of course, it didn't hurt that after the second inning, we joined some of Preston's family friends in a suite.

If you don't know about suites, they are amazing. It's like your own private baseball experience. The seats are spacious. There is shade. No one is trying to slowly inch their elbow a little further into your designated seat area. If this had been my experience that first time, things may be different now.

Preston has also mellowed in his sports fanaticism. He now realizes that sports with Katie, his wife, is different than sports with his buddies or by himself.

So that was my gift to him: a day immersed in baseball culture. It's not a thing he can hold, but we can remember that time we went to a ball game on opening weekend.