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What the closing of Yankee Stadium taught me

I remember being really excited in class one day in early October of 1978, when I was in the second grade. My teacher asked me why I had been looking forward to this day so much, and I explained to her that it was the “perfect day”.  The NHL hockey season was about to start, and so was the World Series.

Even though I was only seven years old, I was already a pretty big professional sports fan.  That year, the Yankees were playing the Dodgers, as they seemed to do so often in the late 70s.

I was for sure the only person in my second grade class who knew that Thurman Munson was the Yankees’ team captain, and that Reggie Jackson was a controversial over paid athlete, even for that time.

I remember rushing home to watch the first game of the World Series on TV that evening.

Last Sunday, on September 21, 2008, the final game was played at Yankee Stadium. Even though the game itself had little statistical merit from a baseball perspective, I watched the entire game from start to finish with great intent. I was very moved by it all.

I reflected on my childhood, and on those grade school memories, and it felt something like a part of your past was slipping away. It reminded me that things don’t last forever, and we are always getting older.

Things we take for granted, like the comfort of watching a Sunday night baseball game from Yankee Stadium, can be here one day and then gone the next.

I thought of how I would be able to use this insight in my life.  I might now be more inclined to take risks from a business and professional perspective.   I will value my time with friends and family even more than I currently do.   Maybe pick up the phone and call my Grandmother just to say hello.

The past 30 years have come and gone in what seems like a heartbeat.   Yankee Stadium reminded me that is important to live in the present, and to enjoy the time that we do have.  The people and experiences that bring us comfort and happiness in our lives will not last forever.