Searching for photos of Dorothy on my computer, I was struck by how many photos I have of her at baseball games. Dorothy and I went to so very many games over the years. She was one of our Core Four: me, Dorothy, and our friends D.G., and A.D. I can remember specific games: the superhero special event where I wore shorts over leggings and tied a blanket around my neck as a cape (she reassured me that I didn’t look stupid), the game where I taught her how to keep score in the way that my mom taught me (which was the way her father taught her), the game where beetles were falling from the lights and landing on the people in the row in front of us (we were half horrified and half laughing), the game where we stayed late to watch the seagulls invade the field and seats (she covered her head with a tiny helmet to protect it from the bird poop), and the game where we sat in the pouring rain with my cousins K and J visiting from Iowa.

In 2012 we were at Matt Cain’s perfect game (with A.D.) thanks to my parents not being able to go that night. Later that season, she and I got last minute tickets to Game 1 of the World Series. I remember we sat at the Panera a block away, refreshing our mobile devices every few seconds looking for two tickets. When I finally got a hit, my hands were shaking so much with excitement that she had to type in my credit card info for me.

We went to fewer baseball games after the pandemic. We had lost D.G. early in the pandemic and it just wasn’t the same without her. It won’t be the same without Dorothy either.