CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 15 LOCALFIRSTBANK.COM L E A R N M O R E AT FAY E T T E V I L L E 9 1 0 - 8 2 9 - 0 2 5 4 Equal Housing Lender | Member FDIC Bank Local. You choose to live, work and shop locally. Doesn't it make sense to turn to your neighborhood bank to help you realize your dreams for a fuller life? First Bank is a full-service bank with the emphasis on "service," by providing local decisions and local faces. PERSONAL BANKING BUSINESS BANKING MORTGAGE SERVICES WEALTH MANAGEMENT I N C L U D I N G Follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/cityviewnc), Twitter #cityviewnc, and Instagram @cityviewnc CityView the ball back into the infield better than the other team's right fielder, then we could probably get a couple of wins each season that we otherwise would not have gotten. Usually, we did. When we receive the blessing of years passed by, we are to be grateful for all the memories we have. Still, it is impossible for backsliders like me to not ponder the things irretrievably gone. Bringing in spring by towing a poorly decorated yard trailer with a dozen antsy boys along a grandparent- lined, usually-busy road is one of them. is past Valentine's Day, I turned 55. I ordered that it be a nondescript day with no presents and no fanfare. Ignoring that or- der, my daughter made several trips to City- View magazine, where, with the help of the General Manager, she compiled a notebook of all my articles on heavy stock paper pref- aced with a hand-written note that said the articles were special and so was I. ere was also a letter on the table ad- dressed to Coach Bill. Jamie-boy recounted in that birthday letter having been asked recently to choose a favorite childhood memory. He struggled for one from among the multitude. Eventu- ally, he chose this: "My favorite childhood memory is not one specific time, but a collection of a ritual celebrated aer every game I ever had. I would crawl into the gray truck and struggle with the faulty seat belt. We would roll the windows down in an attempt to cool the aluminum can in which we were trapped. Once the desired temperature was reached, though, we would talk about every inning, every hit and every botched call. We would talk about it all. ere isn't a conversation I have ever had that I would trade for any conversation had in that old, beat-up truck." e spring rains in my eyes fell gently to the ground. If you have reason to be driving through east Fayetteville on a certain Saturday, you may very well drive up on flashing blue lights in downtown Eastover, forcing your delay in a line of traffic. Don't cuss, because it won't last long. Find comfort in knowing that somewhere just ahead of you a daddy in a beat-up old truck and a child in a new baseball uniform are deepening a love and making memories that will last. For two lifetimes. e man's lifetime and the child's. It will officially be the first day of spring . CV

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