Scrapbook Sunday: May 8-12, 1986

1986 Topps Mini League Leaders #55 Mike Schmidt

Happy Mother's Day! I spent a significant amount of time during my youth putting these scrapbooks together, and all the while talking Phillies and baseball with my Dad. But my Dad will agree it was my Mom from whom I inherited my creative side and the desire to pour my fanaticism into a creative outlet.

My Mom fostered this creativity. She encouraged me to draw and keep scrapbooks. She encouraged me to use my imagination and my artistic skills. And she emboldened me to always march to my own drummer and to be true to myself. She taught me a lot of lessons, but one of the biggest lessons she instilled within me was to seek out whatever brought me happiness and pursue it. This lesson was simple - whether it be collating scrapbooks or making your own baseball cards, if it results in happiness, it's not a waste of time and it should be embraced.

My wife Jenna keeps me in line on a daily basis and she's amazing with our two sons. I'm grateful to have found someone who not only appreciates the importance of having hobbies and pursuing them, but someone who also shares my same passion for baseball. She's encouraged me to keep score at baseball games and to pursue the final cards needed to complete baseball card sets. She reads this little blog and she knows exactly what I mean when I say something like, "I need to update my lists." And I see her, again on a daily basis, encourage and enable our oldest son to pursue whatever makes him happy, just like my Mom did for me. (Our youngest son is only in the eat/sleep/poop phase, so she's not much of an influence on him - yet.)

So Happy Mother's Day to my Mom and my wife. I sincerely appreciate everything you've done and continue to do and I hope the Phils win this afternoon, in your honor.