My favorite love story: ours (part 1)

Watching Mitch play in Grants Pass, Oregon.

2015
It was a peaceful summer morning at the Illinois River. The temperature was just right: it was cool enough you wouldn’t stay hiding in the A/C, but warm enough to jump in the fresh river. The sky was a perfect reflection of the clear blue waters, and we were enjoying the last month of fresh air before wildfires would affect our amazing state. I hadn’t planned on spending my day here. At the time, I had just gone through a rough break up, and if it were up to me, I would’ve stayed in bed, curled up in a ball questioning my existence. But family doesn’t let that happen, and so it was insisted I get out and enjoy the sunshine. My cousin was playing baseball against a team from Australia the next couple of weeks, and both teams were spending the day at the river getting to know each other. This surely would take my mind off things and hopefully cheer me up.
 
There were two rocks easing into the water. I was new to the river and not keen on jumping off rocks, so I chose to make friends with the smaller of the two. Standing here with my cousin and her friends, I saw him walking down the path along the side of a steep rocky hill. Right away I pointed him out. As he came closer, it occurred to me he was headed towards our group.
 
There were about 20 of us and we had been swimming and jumping (or getting dragged) off of rocks all day. Being the shy girl I am, I didn’t say a word to him, or anyone else for that matter. On went the day, secretly glancing at this 5 foot 8, brown haired boy, hoping he wouldn’t notice, but also kinda hoping he would. To my surprise, after hours of privately admiring him, he looked at me and said, “there’s a spider next to your foot,” (minus all the ‘r’ pronunciations). I guess he noticed me after all…and there was NOT a spider next to my foot. I rolled my eyes and ignored his comment but allowed a sneaky little grin to let him know I approved.  
 
I heard my cousin was going back for a ‘guys’ day with the team, and I begged to go with, promising not to be that annoying little cousin. I was exhilarated when he agreed! I sat down in front of the mirror where I’d spent so many nights trying to figure out why I wasn’t good enough. But things were looking up, as I now sat there with excitement and hope. Once I got over my nerves, I decided the thought of makeup running down my face while trying to swim didn’t sound very impressive. And so I left the house with a bare face.  
 
We got to the river and I patiently waited. Once he arrived, we were inseparable. We sat in the water and talked the entire day. I don’t think there was ever a silent moment while we were together. He asked all about me, my family, school, sports, etc. At one point we decided to try catching fish with bread and a Doritos bag. I loved how easy he was to talk to, and we instantly became best friends. It was so nice to be smiling again.
Somewhere along the line I learned his name was Mitch, he was from Perth, Australia but born in South Africa, and was clearly very, very good at baseball.

It wasn’t that he told me he was good at baseball, but after watching his games over the next week, it was obvious. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen a better short stop. I was blown away by his talent, and as a former softball player, I LOVED it. I would go on to watch every game he played in Grants Pass and Medford.
 
One evening after Mitch’s last game in town, I begged my mom to let my best friend and I drive to Grants Pass to meet up with him. I had never driven on the freeway, so my best friend (love you Mel) drove my car the 30+ miles. We met the boys at Denny’s for dinner, then a couple of us ran across the way to a mini market. The team had a curfew, so they all raced back to the hotel while Melody and I grabbed Dutch Bros for the late drive home. Once the boys were settled, we met them at the hotel to say our goodbyes. This moment would stay with Mitch and I forever. I wasn’t ready to say our farewells, but he looked at me and said, “it’s not goodbye, just until next time.”

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Game in Corvallis, Oregon.

I couldn’t help but make the ‘next time’ be very, very soon. I talked my mom into driving 3 and a half hours north to Corvallis to watch one last game before Mitch headed further up the West Coast. This would be the day that I’d officially say goodbye (or not goodbye, but, you know) to Mitch. It felt like I was losing a best friend. We had spent so much time learning all about each other and enjoying our similar love for baseball. I wasn’t ready to go on with the rest of my summer not being able to watch him play, but we had FaceTime to keep in touch.
This last game was around his birthday, so I grabbed some of his favorites (sour patch watermelons, BBQ flavored sunflower seeds, and purple Gatorade) to take to his game. When the game ended and mom and I were driving away, I was holding back tears (oh woe is me, I know). There was truly a connection between us that I couldn’t quite wrap my head around. As far as I knew, I gained a new best friend that I never wanted to lose, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever actually get to see him again.

Until next time,
Tay

Taylor Thompson & Mitch Neunborn

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