The "Values That You Learn In Life" Story

It was an ordinary day. Bob N. and I were getting ready to head to an American Legion game. Bob was a good baseball player who played for the Manheim Township High School Team. In the summer he played for St. Joe's in the American Legion League. I had played many years of summer ball and two years of high school ball, but then dropped out of high school ball so I could get a job and support my car. One day Bob invited me to join him on St. Joe's team in the summer. Only took a second before I told him I would love to play. The coach of the team for many years was named Paul Brubaker. Everyone who played for him called him "Bru". After the first practice in the spring, I was given the 3rd base position on the team. Batted somewhere in the middle of the line-up. "Norc", which was Bob's nickname, played centerfield. He could fly and also hit for power. We had a great time playing in the summer between my junior and senior years in high school. Bob was a year younger than me and not a real close friend. I got to know him from a class in high school. Well, as the summer wore on, Bob and I started to hang out together. Movies, dances at the park, .... the kind of stuff teenagers do in the summer. We often would visit his grandmother who lived on the Fruitville Pike in Lancaster. He treated his grandmother quite differently than I treated my grandmother. He would call her names, curse at her and make fun of her. Didn't quite know how to handle that, thinking at first it was rather funny to treat your grandmother like that. I would never do that to my grandmother. Then one day after the baseball season was over, Bob called and wanted to do something together. I picked him up in my car and we first headed to Fruitville Pike. He wanted to get his BB gun that he had at his grandmother's house so we could go target shooting. He was giving her a hard time and she was yelling at him. Then he grabbed the BB gun and started to shoot her with it. Wow, Not sure I want to be a part of this. We left and did some target shooting in the woods and I returned him home. Decided at the time that I didn't want to spend any more time with Bob. Luckily school started shortly after and we each had a different crowd of friends. Bob asked about baseball again as spring approached, but I had decided not to play. Sometimes you figure out for yourself what is right and what is wrong. Guess that comes from the values that you learn as you grow up. Respect for family had always been important to me! It was an extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.