A Little Background

For as long as I can remember, I've been a sports fan and a collector.  In many of my baby and infant pictures, I have a Chicago Cubs hat on.  I've never lived in Chicago, but I like to tell people that I inherited my love of the Cubs the same way that I inherited the rest of my DNA.

My father and his younger brother were indoctrinated to baseball at a young age.  Their mother, my grandmother, was a lover of baseball in general and the Chicago Cubs specifically.  She would take her boys to Wrigley Field back in the days when tickets couldn't be given away, and the "Lovable Losers" weren't quite as lovable.  Or profitable.

Myself, my uncle, and father at Wrigley Field in the Summer of 2016. 
This game happened to be the first appearance of Willson Contreras.

My father's parents never did get to see the Cubs win a World Series before they passed away.  My father and his brother were a little luckier.  My uncle was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer three years ago, despite never smoking a day in his life.  There were few things that kept him motivated and happy, especially as the disease progressed and stole his daily faculties from him.  But the Cubs were always there, and so he endured.  He was able to see them win a World Series, a fulfillment of a lifetime worth of promises and hope springing eternal.  

He was a tremendous person, and accomplished a great deal of good in his lifetime.  Last week, we laid him to rest next to his mother, side-by-side just as they sat as bleacher bums in happier bygone times.  Few things bring solace for a life cut so unfairly short, but we were able to go through some of his things and happened upon a "W" flag that he treasured.  My father wanted me to have it, and I can't think about it or look at it without crying.  The tears aren't ones of sorrow, but happy ones that remind me that sometimes things that seem trivial are actually really meaningful.  Sports and collecting help bring a joy to life that few other things can.

This blog is intended to be an outlet to explain how collecting, to me, is so important to living a complete life.  I intend to tell funny anecdotes, interesting histories, and occasional insight into the world of collecting.  I will focus mostly on sportscards and sports related items, but will feature other types of collecting items from time to time.  I hope you all enjoy the experience.