Vols Baseball

May was a busy and exciting month for me and my family. Besides the usual busyness of Mother's Day, Memorial Day and random timed races I signed up for, my son married the love of his life on May 31. It was a wonderful day, and everything that I hoped it would be for Ben and Maria Luisa. The joy radiating from the two of them was amazing.

Now we are well into the month of June. It's hard to believe that this week marks 10 months since Randy has been gone. The closer it gets to August 13, the more emotional I am. There are days that I feel very stuck and unable to move forward. Some of that is out of my control, and it frustrates me.

The first couple of weeks of June 2024 were our last "normal" days. The last days where Randy went to work during the week, worked out in the gym, did yard work and projects and porch sat. About mid-June, he started to feel a tightness in his chest. We both thought it was allergies, or a summer cold ("man cold" IYKYK). The timing for a summer cold was perfect for Randy - it allowed him time to slow down and watch our beloved Vols win the College World Series (not that he wouldn't have anyway, but a summer cold requires you to lay around and watch tv). Neither of us knew then that he would not be going back to work or to the gym. I will confess that the towel that he last used is still in the gym (I know you're thinking "gross" but like I've said before, grief is weird). 

After the Vols won, I bought myself a World Series Champion t-shirt and Randy a hat. When I gave the hat to him, I remember him getting very emotional. I think he knew even then what was happening inside of his body. Randy wore the hat a couple of times before he passed. He left it to his brother Pat, and I hope Pat wears it often.

This year during the Regionals and Super Regionals I hung the Vols flag on the front porch and watched the games but it wasn't the same. I could almost hear Randy yelling at the t.v. during the Super Regional games at Arkansas (they weren't pretty). It would not be a repeat trip to Omaha for the Vols this year, and that's probably a good thing, at least for me. I'm not sure how I would have handled another Vol World Series win without Randy here to celebrate. 






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