Heart of a Cubs fan

Prodded by a good friend, I entered an essay in Swedish Covenant Hospital's Heart of a Cubs Fan contest. This friend, a regular reader of my blog, thought that since my upcoming debut novel, Lost in the Ivy, is blended in a Cubs theme I would easily be able to write a 250 words or less essay that would win the contest. I told her all of the reasons I wouldn't be able to write a winning essay and then went ahead, foolishly, and entered anyway.

The theme was to tell of an unforgettable moment you've experienced watching a Cubs game. Taking artistic license, I expanded that theme significantly, almost certainly taking myself out of the running. Dripping in all of its nostalgic sappiness, here is my essay, in 250 words or less:

Being a Cubs fan is not about one memory; it is about a tapestry of memories. Memories that spill out each time I walk through the turnstiles of Wrigley Field and breathe it all in: the smell of hot dogs and beer, the buzz of the crowd, the beauty of the old ballpark. For me, it’s a a nostalgic trip back to childhood, when I’d rush home from school, dump the books, pick up the baseball and bat, head out into the yard, and play, alone, tossing the ball in the air, mimicking my heroes: Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ron Santo. Always I dreamed that one day I’d play on that same field, stand in that batter’s box, and pick up that dirt and rub it into my hands. That dream faded with the years but the memories of it linger. They return each spring when I see those stringy vines, barren and brown from the long winter, clinging to the red brick of the outfield wall as if they are grasping for life from the old ballpark. Wrigley Field locks in those memories like a time capsule through the long winters. When it opens its gates in the spring, those memories flood out, bringing me back to those childhood days when Jack Brickhouse’s squawking “Hey! Hey!” through my crackly transistor radio was all it took to put stars in my eyes. That, to me, is what it means to have the heart of a Cubs fan.