Lilith and I went for a late afternoon hobble around the parking lot yesterday. (The hobble was all mine.) I turned to see a man walking quickly toward me, holding a baby. It was P, fellow Cardinals fan, with whom I exchange calls across the lot, like "we got pitching!" "We need one more!" I hadn't yet met the baby, Miles (like the pitcher, Mikolas? I asked; it had crossed his mind, he said). The baby, who had ginger fur on his head, was sound asleep. There was another Miles, I remembered, who fought off attackers in a hotel room. Little guy, played for the Cards a while back. P's wife, J, approached on the other side, walking slowly with their toddler, Maxwell. We crossed over to say hello. Toddler kissed Lilith on the nose. When I looked up at P and J and their two M's, I was struck by the happiness in their faces, then realized how long it's been since I saw such radiance. A balm in difficult times.
