#tbt 4th of July 2023 ❤️⚾️💙

Today I'm sharing a deeply personal Throwback Thursday... to the 4th of July 2023. 

I've debated with myself on if I ever even wanted to share this with anyone... because I cling to it so tightly as if the memory of it might slip away.  Because 4th of July 2023 was the last time my nuclear family was, and will ever be, whole.

This particular 4th of July, my family didn't want to do the Bar Harbor thing.  We had just lost Nana a few months earlier, and we were ready for something new.  It felt like it was a time for some new traditions now that Grammie & Grampie and Nana & Papa were all gone.  I suggested going to see a Portland Sea Dogs game, and that was that.

Mom and Dad came down to Southern Maine, Jeremy drove up from NH, and Eliot flew out west to spend a few days with his family... skiing.  (Yes, that's right- skiing on the 4th of July... because Tahoe had gotten so much snow over the winter.)  He was really excited, and I knew he would enjoy it.  So on the 4th of July, Mom, Dad, Jeremy and I went to Hadlock Field for their first ever Sea Dogs game.

We all wore the matching Mickey baseball shirts that I'd found online and insisted that we wear.  It was really hot and my body (and endometriosis that I didn't know I had at the time) didn't enjoy the heat, but we had a wonderful time.  They laughed at Slugger the mascot's antics.  Dad finally got his Sea Dogs biscuit after waiting very patiently.  (The concessions kids in the stands never got over to us before running out... so Jeremy went downstairs to the concourse to get him one.)  I don't even remember if we won or lost... because in the end it didn't matter.  I was with my family sharing a place that Eliot and I love... and we had a great time together.  The 4th of July fireworks at the end of the night were the icing on the cake.

Unfortunately, that ended up being Daddy's only Sea Dogs game before we suddenly lost him just over a month later.  But I'm so glad he was able to go to at least one game with me though... because I know how much he enjoyed it.

This year, Eliot and I will be going to the Sea Dogs for the 4th again... this time with Mom and Jeremy for their 2nd Portland Sea Dogs game.  It hurts to know that Dad won't be there with us.  But I know that he, Grammie & Grampie and Nana & Papa will always be with us in spirit... especially on the 4th of July. ✨🇺🇸❤️⚾️💙🇺🇸✨