So while keeping score in the pool league, I start making chit-chat with this older lady on the other team. Somehow, we end up talking about how she grew up on a cemetery in New York. Intrigued, I asked her more about it. One story was pretty amazing... so amazing I'm staying up to share it with you. I'll try to keep it short.
Background: Four houses were built on a plot of land and then the rest of the surrounding land was bought and made into a cemetery. Leah (the lady telling me the story) and her family lived in one of those houses. Now, this isn't a creepy, old cemetery. It's the kind that is nicely kept... so nicely kept that it trumped the nicest parks around. And that's what her and the other kids used it as. They would climb on the mausoleums, play in the trees, and run around on the clean-cut grass.
Story: When she was in grade school, they noticed that the cemetery was beginning to use a large section that had been kept empty. One day they saw a tombstone that was placed in the ground. It was the kind that was flat to the ground, much like a plaque. And what do you do when something like this is placed in your "backyard"? You got it! They made it home plate and started to play baseball.
While playing, her and her friends noticed a woman sitting under a nearby tree, just watching them. She would stand and sit back down, but kept watching them the whole time. Out of curiosity and respect, Leah goes over to the woman to see what's going on. Here's the conversation:
"Are we bothering you?"
"No, you're not bothering me. But my husband just passed away and you're using his tombstone as home plate."
"OH! I'm sorry! We'll stop..."
"No. Don't stop. You see, my husband loved baseball and played little league, high school, and coached little leagues all of his life. I want you to keep playing baseball here, but you have to promise that, no matter what, you always use him as home plate. I know he would be happy to be home plate."
And so they did. They continued to play there and use that tombstone as home plate.
Doesn't it sound like one of those stories you make into a chain letter and send to your friends? But it's not! It's a real story from this lady. I'm sure some of the story was lost in translation, but when we heard the story, it was really heart warming (and gave us chills at the same time). Seems so perfect, like God had a purpose in letting it unfold the way it did. | 
