My mom loves the Rockies because the team represents happy days to her and gives her a reason to be alive and cheering.
Martha will be 87 years young on May 29 and she has been a baseball groupie since childhood. Her first husband played both hardball and softball. The week after they were married, Mom was 19, he was sent overseas and never returned.
Mom did her part during WWII and worked for Douglas Aircraft and still continued her love affair with baseball. After she remarried and had a family, they all knew baseball was her hobby, and not to bother Mom when her games were on. Martha came to Colorado 31 years ago. She was widowed again but still maintains her own home and car and her love of the sport. Since the day the Rockies became a team, she adopted them. Last year when the Rockies were in the World Series, Mom watched every game, cheering and shouting. Her spirits were not dampened when we did not quite win ... "Just wait til next season," she said.
Mom has watched every preseason game. Our Easter dinner had to be postponed because most of the family had the flu. We invited Mom over for dinner, but she politely declined because her Rockies were playing at 5 p.m. and she would not miss the game.
Mom believes she is living on borrowed time, even though she is in excellent physical and mental health. She reminds me of a little bouncing rubber ball and is as feisty as a teenager, especially when her Rockies are playing. Mom has her own "Bucket List" and she has accomplished most of it. She has traveled to Mexico and Canada and every other state but Alaska. She has flown in a hot-air balloon, walked across the Golden Gate Bridge and flown on a glider. Martha was a guest fireman on a fire truck, hat and all. The Broncos honored her on her 77th birthday when they surprised her with tickets right behind the Bronco bench. She thoughtshe was one of the cheerleaders throughout the game, but was disappointed when she could not visit the locker room.
There is one major item left on her list -- to spend a game with her Rockies in person. She refers to them by their first names,
Matt,
Todd,
Aaron,
Troy,
Mike,
Clint, etc., and talks to them just like they were her kids. Martha delights in reviewing a game with us, just in case we missed something during an inning.
When I told her I was entering this contest for her and that the prize was 12 Colorado Rockies suite tickets, she hesitated and said, "I wonder if we win, if you kids could use the suite and I could just sit in the dugout with my boys?" That's our Mom and that is how much sheadoresher Rockies, her everlasting loves.