To The Game of Softball,

You were my first love. I fell in love with you when I was six years old, from the moment I stepped foot on the little field behind my elementary school with my first coach, I was hooked. I remember learning how to throw the ball for the first time and how to swing a bat. I remember learning the basic rules of the game and how to play first base. I remember the day I decided I wanted to be a pitcher. I also remember, very clearly, the day I decided to stop playing the game I loved.

When I was a junior in high school, I played my last season. I didn’t know it then, but that would be the last time I played in a tournament, the last time I hit a ball, ran the bases, played first base, pitched, or cheered on my teammates that had become like a second family. Most importantly, though, I didn’t realize that when I took off my cleats after the last game, I would be hanging them up forever.

The decision wasn’t easy. You and I had a very long history, but our time had run out. I was a senior in high school, preparing for college and to start a new chapter in my life. I just didn’t see you as being a part of that new chapter. I didn’t know how much I would miss you until now. I see pictures of girls still in high school, playing for my old teams. I reminisce about the fun times I had on the long bus rides and wish I could have just one more. Some days I think about trying a new sport, but it still feels like I would be cheating on you somehow. If I had time for a new sport, then I would have time for you, and I don’t, which was one of the reasons I gave you up in the first place.

Some days I wish I had known our last game would have been our last. I wish I could remember what it felt like the last time I stood at the plate, the last time I swung a bat and hit the ball, the last time I scored a run. The reality that I will never play competitive softball again is a hard one to handle, but you will always hold a special place in my memory.

Sincerely,

The Former Player