Mom to Mom: The Cubs and the Art of Remembrance

By Melanie Pridemore

What is most profound about the Cubs making their first World Series appearance in 108 years is not just the length of the gap, but the feelings it provokes. Everyone that likes a team gets excited when that team does well, but with this year and this team it’s about much more.

It’s about the feelings this provokes in so many people as they recall family and friends that have passed never having the opportunity to see this happen. People who were loyal fans their entire lives but never got to cheer for their team in the series.

People are thinking beyond themselves and considering what this would have been like for someone they loved who is no longer with us.

For me, I think of my Grandpa Art.  Before succumbing to cancer in 1999, my Grandpa was an avid Cubs fan.

Born and raised in Chicago, he was a fan of the Cubs from a young age and watching and attending games gave him great joy, even in the years when they weren’t performing well.  As a child, I remember how focused he would be when the games were on TV.

He would sit in his recliner with a beer and watch every inning.  We used to joke that yelling “fire” might be the only way to get his attention when the Cubs were on 🙂  My Grandpa Art was 9 years old when the Cubs played in the 1945 World Series and despite his loyalty throughout his life, they never made it back to the big game before his death.

When the Cubs take the field this week, I will be thinking of him and the smile that would be on his face watching the Cubbies take the field.