A Grateful Soldier - Contest entry

[Helms83]

I’m embarrassed to admit that I have been a diehard Cubs fan of unwaivered support and have yet to visit Wrigley Field; even though I have lived a short two hours west of Chicago for the past 15 years. Finally, while home on R&R from Afghanistan, my fiancée surprised me with tickets to my first Cubs game at Wrigley Field.
We had tickets for the September 16th Astros v. Cubs. Our seats were along the third base line, six rows from the bullpen holding area, just to the left of the Cubs dugout. It was a chilly, overcast, autumn day; but I was as excited as a kid on Christmas day. I took pictures of everything visible and was in complete ‘aw’ of the history surrounding Wrigley Field. The atmosphere was exciting; even though the Cubs post-season chances ended at the beginning of August. However, the real excitement was lying ahead with a couple surprises my fiancée had arranged.
At the end of the sixth inning, a ‘Cubs Ambassador’ comes to our seats with a VIP package full of Cubs memorabilia and thanked me for my service. I received a few hats, sweat bands, pictures of Wrigley and the starting picture for the Cubs. I thought it to be a pretty generous gift. Then shortly after the seventh inning stretch (sang by Martin Sheen), a Cubs bullpen coach pointed to me and motioned for me to come down!
I approach the ‘sideline’ of the Cubs bullpen, and the Coach identifies himself as Lester Strode. He states he heard that I was home on leave from Afghanistan and attending my first Cubs game. I reply and he says, “From a grateful Cubs organization, (we) thank you for everything you and your family sacrifice for (us).” He then hands me a baseball, shakes my hand, and tells me to be safe with the rest of my deployment.
I return to my seat before I even look at the ball. There’s a grass stain, indicating the ball was used during the game, and 12 signatures. The ball was signed by:
Lester Strode (Bullpen Coach)
Mark Riggins (Bullpen Coach)
Kerry Wood
Sean Marshall
Jeff Samardzija
Andrew Lane
Edgar Tovar
Andrew Cashner
John Gaub
John Grabow
Ramon Ortiz
James Russell
Unbeknownst to me, when I went to the restroom, my fiancée went to the bullpen sideline and spoke to the bullpen coach. She told Lester Strode the circumstances surrounding my first Cubs game, and asked if there would be anyway for a Cubs player to sign a ball and give it to me. Lester told her he couldn’t make any promises, but he would see what he could do. Neither of us expected what Lester did for us.

So the game continues, and of course I’m riding ‘cloud-9’ for the remainder of the game. The Cubs gave up the lead in the top of the ninth, but the game continued into extra innings, twelve to be exact, meaning free baseball. Ultimately, the Cubs pull out the win and you would have thought the Cubs had clinched a playoff berth with the excitement surrounding the ballpark. And then of course, we all sang ‘Go Cubs, Go!’ with the celebration of the win.
All-in-all, this is an unforgettable first Cubs game at Wrigley Field and the Cubs organization really went out of their way. But my fiancée made all of this possible and I’m lucky to have shared the experience with a woman like her.
By the way, she also bought me a couple of boxes of 2011 Topps Platinum, which resulted in a 1/1 in each box (which, since 2006, I have only pulled two 1/1 cards):
Terrance Toliver Yellow Printing Plate Auto
Steven Jackson Prime Patch Auto

To my Fiancee, thank you for everything: making leave memorable and supporting our family through this year long deployment. You are my 1/1 and I love you (no fellas, she isn’t available and she won’t pick your boxes for you)...

Happy Trading!

SGT Joshua Helms
aka Helms83

[Helms83]

Also, I'm on my way back to Afganistan when I wrote this article. I'm limited on access to the site while deployed, but if you could email at [email protected], if this article is published in the collector's corner, I would like a sopy. Also, I would like to submit more articles, but would have to do this through email. Could someone email me on how to submit articles through email? Thanks!

[Pheebs888]

Thanks for the entry, here is the published article: https://www.sportscardforum.com/artic...teful-soldier/

Email coming your way shortly

[Greengoblin782]

Great article. Thank you for your service.

[sweetg1]

I want to personally thank you for your service and what you and your buddies are doing overseas (even though I dislike the Cubs! :) ). Nice story and great fiancee. Stay safe and hurry home.