The Best Minute of Your Life

Last weekend I donned by charcoal grey pants and my dark navy blue shirt and resumed my "career" as a Little League baseball umpire.  The games were held at Clayton Community Park in Clayton, a quaint suburb community situated at the base of the Bay Area's highest mountain, Mount Diablo -- the "Devil Mountain."  It was a beautiful day for baseball and the setting was grand.  There was green everywhere.  Indeed, there was such a variety of green, it seemed to me that one would need the 128 crayon box to match the various shades of green that were visible at the park.  Additionally, looming over the center field was the site of the majestic Mount Diablo inspiring us with its size and green grandeur.

The field was a little damp from the previous day's rain, but that did not deter us from proceeding on with the game.  I, along with the kids, was looking forward to renewing this ritual of Spring.  And so, with a great deal of enthusiasm, I commenced the proceedings by using my "umpire voice" to yell, "Play Ball!"

The game was going along quite well without incident until about the fourth inning.  At that time, one of the young pitchers lost his control and accidentally hit the batter on his helmeted head.  I immediately called "Dead Ball!" and motioned for the coach to come over and tend to his player.  The helmet had taken the brunt of the pitch so the player appeared to be okay.  Nevertheless, I walked with him halfway to first base just to make sure that he was okay.

I was about to resume play when the pitcher's coach asked for time out.  I gave it to him and allowed him to go out to talk with his pitcher.  After all, these are 11 and 12 year old kids and, after hitting a batter in the head, it is customary for a coach to talk with his pitcher to settle him down and to get the pitcher to refocus on the task at hand.

As the coach talked to his pitcher, the next batter began to engage in some banter with some fans behind the backstop.  One of the fans noted that the hit batter was the identical twin brother of the batter on deck and asked the on deck batter which one of them was older.  The on deck batter replied, in the smart aleck way that only a twelve year old can, that he was the older one by one minute ,and ...this is were I could not help myself from cracking up ... that that one minute was the the best minute of his life.  The implication being that the best minute of his life was the minute he was in the world before the arrival of his twin brother.

That smart aleck moment was priceless fun for me... but it also got me to thinking.  What is the best minute of my life?  I mean most of us can think of our best year or even our best day, but our best minute?  The exercise that I have engaged in since pondering that question has been a rather illuminating personal experience indeed.  And, in engaging in that experience, I began to wonder what others would say was the best minute of their lives, ... and why.

And so, my friends, wherever you may be.  Please let me know what was the best minute of your life and why?  If you are like me, I think you will find the exercise a rather interesting one.  On the other hand, if you do not have a "best minute", do not despair, another minute is just a few seconds away, and it is conceivable that the next minute to come will be the best minute of your life.

Peace.

P.S. The team that the twins were on lost their game.  But it was a good game.  The next game, however, was even better with the home team winning 5-4 on a thrilling three run inside the park home run.  It was inside the park because the park had no fences and the kid had to run as fast as he could around the bases to barely beat the throw to home plate. What a great day for baseball!