Uncle Phil Relationship

I look at this photo and see the relationship between a little girl and her great uncle. At the time there was never a more happy, or proud moment for me than when Uncle Phil was around. The times when Uncle Phil would come around, we would go out and play softball. He and I invested countless hours in the batting cages. Countless hours going over drills to perfect and refine skills that would eventually earn me the role of fourth hole hitter on my select teams.
As I grew up, I was acutely aware of my skills. I knew that he was proud of me. The bond between us was cemented as we sharpened my skills. Eventually our ‘practices’ became pure play due to my level of confidence in my knowledge and skill. Even though we had great times, and many

This disease constricts your blood vessels and doesn’t allow blood flow to your extremities. It also hardens your arteries. I did not know then what I know now that he played with me, and practiced with me every time in pain. In the photo above, he was in pain… yet was to strong to show it or say a word.
There was a time when Phil and I both knew that I had a future for me in this sport. This was when we were at the batting cages, and my skills had finally shown through the struggle. I hit every ball square on and my strength ascended well beyond the norm for a girl my age. There were grown men and women watching me with awe. As they were watching me, I was watching Phil. The smile on his face was truly what I played the game for.
As I was climbing the social, and skill hierarchy of high school softball and select softball, there were more people telling me about college softball. My coaches became excited for me to move to a higher class select team and play college exposure tournaments where the presence of scouts are abundant. Phil was very excited for me and constantly checked in with me if this is the road I wanted to take. I knew for certain that this was what I wanted to