In Search Of

Music has a magical way of transporting us back in time.

For instance, at work I have a cassette tape of an old U2 song that always brings back good memories. When I hear the song “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for,” I am taken back to a summer night in 1988. I was in Baltimore to watch an Orioles’ game against the Texas Rangers with my then girlfriend (now wife) and brother. The game was awful and both teams were changing pitchers like there was no tomorrow.

It had become so bad that the highlight of the game was when a cat had run onto the field. Soon after, one of the teams was making a pitching change and as the discouraged pitcher left the game with his head down you could hear U2 appropriately singing over the P.A. system, “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.” No sooner did those words fill the air than a disgruntled fan stood up and appropriately yelled, “put the cat in.” I imagine it couldn't have done any worse.

This reminds me of another summer night in 1999. I was pitching for the men’s church softball team and I couldn’t find the plate. I, however, was not in jeopardy of being yanked, simply because we had no one else, but I almost committed a bigger blunder. In between one of the innings, I was greeted by my then six year old daughter who wanted to cheer up her dad. In her hand she had a bag of red Swedish fish and on her face a big smile, “Daddy would you like some fish?” In my frustration I said, “no” because I wanted to be left alone and then she started to cry.

I am not an overtly intelligent man, but every father knows that when your daughter cries you should listen and remedy the situation. So, of course, I told her I had changed my mind and those fish sure sounded good. Her tears suddenly dried up and a smile appeared as I popped those fish into my mouth. Strange, I can’t remember the outcome of the game or if my pitching even improved, because the next spring as I mentioned before my daughter passed away. The lesson I learned that summer night is that people are always more important than how you feel. On that evening, I didn’t find what I was looking for, instead I found something better.

“You can find whatever you're looking for, so decide what you're looking for.” ~ Seth Eisenberg

Swavel