The Gill Family: The Year We Turned 40

Saturday, June 5, 2021

The Year We Turned 40

We knew it had to happen, but somehow it felt just a bit too soon. We are still so young. However we have reached the point in life where we both remember when our parents had this birthday and they felt like actual real-time adults. So maybe that's us now too. We're real adults. We turned 40.

As a gentleman does, Jon went first. Jon birthday is in April, and we lucked out as his favorite baseball team was in town for a series very close to his actual birthdate. His family treated us to a night in downtown Houston, staying at a lovely hotel right near the ballpark. We had a delicious dinner on Saturday night at Guard and Grace and then rested up for an incredible experience at Minute Maid Stadium the next day.

We started the day with breakfast in the hotel restaurant surrounded by Blue Jays players. As it turns out, they also stayed at this lovely hotel the night before. We rode the elevator with the starting catcher and Jon sat starstruck all through breakfast as he looked around the room and was able to identify almost everyone there. They all boarded the team bus with their gear and we followed closely behind to take full advantage of our Diamond Club tickets.

These tickets were an unbelievable way to see a baseball game. We parked a few steps from the stadium, there was a series of underground tunnels that took us to the lounge, with every kind of freshly prepared food imaginable, where we could hang out for an hour before and at any point during the game. Nacho bar, ice cream sundae bar, french fry bar, actual drink bar, it was all there for the taking! When you are ready to watch baseball live, there is a hallway that takes you right to your seats, just behind the home plate wall - and if you forgot to grab cotton candy, popcorn or peanuts before you sat down, there are convenient stands along the way to your seats to grab and go.

The seats were incredible. All of the extras aside, we were as close to the team as possible without actually being in the dugout.

This is a very happy Jays fan.

As it turns out, the game we attended had a special "Stand Up to Cancer" program to increase cancer awareness during the 7th inning stretch. They handed out these cards with instructions on filling in who you stand up for. My sweet husband wrote this on his sign:

and attracted the eyes of Rowdy Tellez, who lost his own mother to breast cancer a few years ago. He called us to stay after the game, and handed me his signed cleats from that afternoon's game. It was touching and kind, a gesture that I will never forget.