Our good-natured competition began in 1985, when she still lived in Georgia. We’d been hired as junior editors within months of each other at Communications Channels, a magazine publishing house in Atlanta. We were young and living in a big city with new, exciting jobs. Life was good.
Then it got better. My new friend and I discovered our mutual love for all things baseball. Soon, we were singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” together at the old Fulton County Stadium. It didn’t matter that we had different accents (she’s from Chicago and I’m from Atlanta) or that we worshipped differently (she’s Jewish and I’m Christian). Baseball linked us together.
We graciously pulled for the other team when we weren’t playing each other. Her parents hosted me several times at their lovely home in Chicago so we could watch the Braves and the Cubs face off at the beautiful, intimate Wrigley Field—my favorite ballpark. Her dad had awesome season tickets.
While in Chicago, I attended synagogue and participated in a Rosh Hashana dinner. I’ll never forget these holy experiences and am grateful to her parents for including me.
Eventually, she moved back to Chicago, and is now a sports writer covering the Cubs. She’s returned a few times, and we enjoyed watching the Braves play at Turner Field. Now that our city’s team has moved outside the city, maybe she’ll be curious enough to come back for a game at SunTrust Park. I keep hoping.
Miriam Romain, the most loyal Cubs fan of them all, is also my editor. It’s ironic that my Jewish BFF generously contributes her time and talents to a work of Christian fiction. I’m sure our theological discussions have offered more entertainment to the saints in heaven than any ninth-inning nail-biter possibly could. I can’t imagine writing without her.