When our oldest daughter was in high school, she played softball for a few years with the Montclair Golden Girls. Over three summers we bonded with this group of sports fans, going to tournaments from Glendora to Big Bear to Norco. This organization ran like clockwork due to the hard work and love from a core group of parents. Some of the girls in the league had started there when they were just wee ones and grew up surrounded by lots of laughter and love. We were happy to have found them, if only for a few years.
Because of social media, I found out that one of the coaches had died from cancer a few weeks ago and that there would be a memorial service held on the softball field. I had not seen most of these people in about 9 years, and I knew I had to go. I was not the only one. I'm guessing there were about 300 people there with many more who would have come if they could. What a tribute to a man who really gave of himself to countless girls.
I was so glad that I went and reconnected with many of our Golden Girls friends.
Here are just some of the girls that Rick coached over the years.
Here is a photo of two of the All-Star teams from 2005. Coach Rick is the man in the middle with his baseball hat on sideways.
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