0 Throwback Thursday: I Am A Baseball Wife

This post was written by me after a TV show attempted to misrepresent baseball wives a few years back and I was furious.  I knew that the women on the show were being misled and misrepresented and I wanted to speak up for all of us as a community.  This was my most shared post, and it made me so happy to see it on the facebook pages of fellow baseball wives.  I hope you enjoy!  

Written by Nicole Johnson, Wife to Elliot Johnson

I am a baseball wife.

I log long hours of driving and flying to be with the man I love, cheer for, and support.

I take care of my child by myself a lot of the time.   I try my best to give him enough love for both myself and his daddy.

I've watched my child run at the door screaming for his Daddy when my husband had to leave for another road trip.  I've wiped away his tears, and cried with him over his heartbreak.

I comfort my child when he asks (again) where Daddy is.  I know he is at winter ball for a whole month, and I simply respond with "Daddy's working," and continue to draw his attention away from him missing Daddy.

I pack up my home before spring training, before the season, and at the end of the season (and more some years).

I make each place we live in with as many of the comforts of home as possible.  This includes baking for my family, cooking meals for my son, finding preschools, swim coaches, and anything else I can to make my family as comfortable as I can.

I run the house during the season.  My husband doesn't even have time to do the laundry, let alone try to manage anything in the house like the groceries and bills.

I cheer for my husband whether he's doing well or doing terrible.  I know he's amazing, and he doesn't have to have the best day on the field for me to feel that way.

I didn't marry for money.  When I married my husband, he was in the minor leagues and in debt.  I knew this, and I didn't care.  I married him because of the way he made my heart feel, and I know that having that and having God is always going to be enough for us.

I try to travel with my husband on the road as much as I can.  It's costly, but when we can afford it, I do my best to make sure my son can be around his Daddy as much as possible.

I've stayed home from road trips because we didn't have the money to go.

I've packed up while pregnant to go with my husband to rehab and injury a few states away.

I've held several part time and temporary jobs because this lifestyle didn't allow me the opportunity to be with my husband and have a career.  I have a Masters Degree in Accounting.  I do what's best for my family.

I have seen my life go from bringing the food from our pantry with us because we couldn't afford to buy all our groceries again, to borrowing money from my mom because we got called up and were on the road and I couldn't afford to eat within a 6 week period.

I've borrowed money from my parents to pay my mortgage because we had a baby and I couldn't go back to work to buying my parents dinner when they came to visit us in the Big Leagues a year later.  

I am helping my husband chase his dream.  I believe in him, and I do everything I can to make my family happy even with our sometimes uncertain situation.  I make sacrifices, and while I am lucky to live a comfortable life, I don't live a life of luxury.

I am a baseball wife.