On Friday evening, we used our Christmas present from Eddie. He gave the rest of the family tickets to the Giants-Padres game. It was a great gift and he took care to make sure the tickets were in a wheelchair accessible place and included a parking pass so that Maggie could be part of the fun. Quite generous and very thoughtful.
There was a slight hitch in the planning when I realized a couple of weeks ago that I lost the tickets he sent, but with all these new fangled computers and bar scanning, the tickets were easily replaced. Of course I had to come clean with Eddie that I lost his generous gift before I could get the information I needed to get them replaced. That was embarrassing, and I was on the receiving end of a lecture I have delivered many times about being careless with my things. Turning my words back on me was a little bonus for Eddie. When the new tickets arrived I carefully placed them in a very safe place - this time one I could remember.
Friday was a PERFECT day in San Francisco which was great because the nights can be very cold at the Giants games and I was concerned about Maggie. She was fine, though, and we were off. Maggie was excited to be in all her Giants gear and hanging with Tim as we prepared to go.
This is how gorgeous things were when we arrived, beautiful views and big smiles.
Our seats were on the club level which has an indoor area where the food vendors are. She and I went inside for a bit and she had a meltdown. I think it was just sensory overload, the crowds, the cold night air (which was very mild by SF standards), the constant noise punctuated by the cheering, etc. We also had an obnoxious drunk in front of us who ended arguing with the usher for an inning or so before getting ejected from the stadium. That was distracting for us and I'm sure Maggie picked up on that. (We had good laughs at his expense later, though.) After she recovered from her meltdown, we went back to where our seats were but stayed inside so she could get used to the idea of going back out.
When she saw Steve and Tim sitting there she wanted to join them. (you can see the space for her wheelchair there)
Maggie made it until the 8th inning, which is far longer than I expected. She and I slowly made our way to the car and Steve and Tim watched the end of the game. By the time I got her out of the stadium, fed and loaded into the van we probably only waited 10 minutes.
The Giants lost the game, but it didn't matter, we had a great time. While driving home we decided we have to do an annual family trek to the park. We all go to several games a year, but we don't all go together and we almost never bring Maggie. It's a lot for her, but she had a great time.
Now I just have to get Eddie to pony up a gift like that every year. Better yet, we have to do it when he and Grace can join us.
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I'm so glad that it went well --
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