As one daughter journeys south to the big city of Houston for the Baylor Bear's Sweet Sixteen appearance, I will be attending yet another daughter's high school softball game in the small city of Crawford. Anabeth is the pitcher for her 2A softball team. A south paw with a determined drop ball and a heck of a fastball. She is quite successful in this sport and has already amassed 119 strikeouts and two, count them, TWO home runs this season. To say that I am proud of her goes without saying. But I will say it anyway.... in 1500 words or less.
Anabeth is the third of my four children. A true middle child in every sense of the birth order. Easy going, loving, kind, peacekeeper, friendly....I could go on and on. She is sandwiched between two brothers which has proved to make her stronger, emotionally and physically, than her older sister. One of my favorite things to do is sit in our living room chairs and just BE with Anabeth. She is perfectly happy to talk about herself, you..... or nothing at all. It doesn't have to be all about her....(Violet). A refreshing child who renews my spirit whenever I am around her.
Although she is extremely smart (academics are highly valued in our home) she is also athletically gifted. She has chosen to play three Spring sports for her high school this year: Golf, tennis and SOFTBALL. Golf and tennis are hard spectator sports for me to follow. But softball is a great game to watch and follow...even when you are busy talking to all of the other bleacher moms about anything BUT softball. As good as Anabeth is she is quick to give credit to her defense for her outstanding stats. Her catcher makes her look really good and the infield rarely misses a play while the outfielders are great pop-fly catchers.
Anabeth started playing softball at age 7 and was on the ten year old Midway all star team that won state. The pitching part came as she progressed through little league, she quickly abandoned her position at first base to practice her repertoire of pitches for the mound. She has spent her falls taking lessons and practicing weekends with her father....who continually swears that he is too old to be catching her for pitching practice....even though Anabeth insists that he looks dashing in the full catcher's equipment he grudgingly dons. Anabeth's softball seasson is a big part of our family's spring.
All of this to say, Anabeth has found a passion. Which is important....to find something you enjoy and in which you are able to succeed. As my children grew, I tried to continually find small ways in which each could succeed using their own strengths and talents. In turn, their confidence in themselves would grow and they soon began searching out areas of interest in which to compete and succeed....gaining even more self-confidence. Anabeth has met and exceeding all of our expectations. She has stretched her father and me to learn more and be more FOR her.
So today i will leave work at 5 in order to get my chair set up in the prime spot behind the home plate umpire (sometimes he needs help with his calls). I will be cheering for Anabeth and her teammates as they try to continue their undefeated run toward becoming district champions for 2010. Go Lady Pirates! I think we will go long this season. I will keep you posted.
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