My 2009 Atlanta Braves season tickets came on Friday!!! And to say I was excited would be a huge understatement. And the best part about it, they are baseball card themed! Every ticket looks like a baseball card from a past or current baseball player. They...are...AWE-some!

This is my first year with a full season ticket package. But getting my first season ticket package got me thinking about the first baseball ticket I ever held.

I was in 2nd grade. My dad took me up to Chicago for the day. I remember the excitement of just the two of us, riding in his little 3-series BMW for 3 hours or so.

StubHub wasn't around at the time so purchasing tickets to a sold out game meant finding a scalper. "Teddy the Ticket" was infamous around Wrigleyville, so we found the bar he hung out in before games and dad bought two tickets. This was also my first time in a bar (it was legal).

I don't remember where we sat, I don't remember who we played, and I don't remember if we won. I guess through the years all those details have proved to be relatively pointless. I remember feeling loved though. And I remember how special and important it made me feel to go to Wrigley for the day with dad.

After the game, dad bought me a my first Cubs hat. It was bright pink - and even though I know I am going to get laughed at hardcore for this, I freely admit I liked the color pink as a boy.

But to leave out this detail of the day would leave out the beauty of the day, and the beauty of who Dad was and is. He always gave me the freedom and independence to make my own decision. I am sure internally he rolled his eyes when his oldest boy picked a pink Cubs hat. But he bought it for me anyways and I wore that for years until it was lost while riding a horse on a Dude Ranch trip.

Now I am 26 years old and wearing more gender appropriate hats. I am old enough to take myself to baseball games and pay for my own tickets. And just like at that first baseball game, I still rarely care where I sit or who we are playing. And even though it is Turner Field and not Wrigley, and it is the Braves not the Cubs, there is still something special about stepping through the turnstiles and watching America's pastime.

I look forward to the day when I can take my own boy to the park - just the two of us. But for now, I just appreciate the company of a good friend and a couple of hours at the park.