It's Okay to Cry: Baseball Cards Are Therapy

All too often we share the highs of our lives.  We share the vanity we want others to see, and how we want others to see us. So, we hide all the bad. I'm guilty.

It's human nature to mask our pain from others. This post isn't a happy mailday post. It's not showing off a truckload of cards. It's a post of pain and sorrow and how I deal.

Less than two years ago I lost my father to cancer. He battled the disease for about nine months. That was an extremely hard time for me. My wife was my rock. And I also had baseball cards. 

For some reason it was therapeutic. Maybe it reminded me of better times as a kid with my dad. Him watching the Cubs on TV, or Bob Villa (I hated those shows). I was on the floor sorting baseball cards by team, by player, by set, and even by my favorite designs.

Through my dad's illness I continued to buy baseball cards and it was very helpful. It was my answer to therapy. 

Sometimes I need baseball card therapy after a long day at work, or just a rainy day. 

We also have family and friends to lean on in these times, and over the past four weeks that has also helped. You see, we just laid my father-in-Law to rest this afternoon. I've lost two dads in less than two years.

Michael passed away last Wednesday night after a short battle with cancer. The following night was the Javier Baez event at Club 400 I just blogged about. An extreme low and extreme high in less than 24 hours time.

Until late morning Thursday I was going to forego the event to be with my wife. Throughout the entire illness she always insisted I go to Club 400 because I needed the happy times. 

I'm glad she did. It was a beautiful distraction from a terrible time. You may not see that pain in the photos I posted, but it was certainly present. 

The emotions are running high at this moment, and we will get through these tough times and remember the good times. 

When you are feeling down, just remember that the social media accounts you follow are not always experiencing happy times each and everyday. There is pain underneath, but there are outlets and baseball cards have become great therapy for me.