What's a trip to Chicago without the Cubs?

It was eight years ago today – September 28, 2010. Eight years ago that I met Dan and told my mom, “He’s really cute and sweet, but mom – he likes Springsteen. Yuck! And he loves baseball. How boring!!”

Now eight years later, not only am I happily married to Dan, but I’ve seen Bruce in concert six times – loving every one of them. And on our honeymoon, we saw the Boston Red Sox play baseball in Toronto. So it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that we celebrated our fifth anniversary by meeting up with friends from Iowa to see a Cubs game in Chicago.

Dan, our friends Pam, Steve, D.J., Deb, and I found our seats about 30 minutes before the first pitch.

Wrigley Field, what a great evening!!

Our seats were at the very back of the second tier on the third base side. And if you regularly read our blog or know my life with MS, you know a bathroom has to be part of this story. The family restrooms, the ones I use with Dan’s help, unfortunately were located either on the level above us or on the level below us. Imagine having to wait for the elevator every time you had to go to the bathroom!

That’s exactly what I had to do. But it only took me one such trip before tired of making it. Luckily, we noticed vacant accessible seats closer to the family restroom, which coincidently had an incredible view of the ballpark. So I kindly asked a friendly usher, “How can we get seats like these? You know, ones closer to the bathrooms I use?” He understood my situation and encouraged me to check with Fan Services to inquire about upgrading our tickets.

Long story short: We were able to upgrade close to the family restroom on the first level, which landed us 10 rows from the field right behind home plate! It cost us a little more for these great seats, but it was SO worth it.

And just when the night seemed to be perfect, remember that band-aid on Dan’s forehead I mentioned in my last blog? Here’s the less than perfect way that happened – there had to be a way to get me and my powerchair that close to the field, and it involved me taking a motorized chairlift. In helping to secure my chair to said chairlift, my loving husband stumbled – stupid numb MS feet – and he hit his head hard.

Dan had to be treated by the nurses in the ballpark’s First Aid station. They were quick to treat him (no stitches needed!) and he was back to the game before the second inning ended. Hence his name is now, and forever, on file at Wrigley Field… granted it is in medical records but still, how many of us can say that?

The game was great, highlighted by standing with Dan during the seventh-inning stretch where Hall of Fame running back Gale Sayers sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

And speaking of singing, in the eighth inning three ballpark ushers sang “Happy Anniversary” to us and presented us with a ball used during the game. It even has dirt and scuffs on it. What a souvenir!

And what a night for me, a girl who once hated baseball. A girl who doesn’t let multiple sclerosis stand in the way of experiencing life. A great life with that cute man I met eight years ago.