More than Just a Day at the Ballpark<\/p>\n
On Thursday, April 11th, thirteen of our residents \u2013 plus three staff members \u2013 piled into our vehicles and headed to St. Louis to see the Cardinals play the L.A. Dodgers. As we made our way into the \u2018big city\u2019 shortly before Noon, for a handful of our gentlemen who grew up in the St. Louis area, it brought back all sorts of memories \u2013 and not necessarily pleasant ones. For at least one of our residents, the experience brought a sense of awe and wonder\u2026<\/p>\n
One individual was taken aback by the sights of the city \u2013 the tall buildings, the bustle of people coming and going, the huge infrastructure of the downtown area, and the immense scale of everything. As we walked away from our vans and made our way toward the stadium, he stopped every several seconds to snap photos with his phone. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen a sky-scraper before!,\u201d he quipped. He was amazed to be that close to the St. Louis Arch. And this was his first time to ever experience a major-league baseball game. His excitement was palpable \u2013 and it was shared by our whole group.<\/p>\n
For some of the others who grew up or spent considerable time living in the St. Louis area, our presence there elicited a whole other set of emotions and memories\u2026surviving on the streets as a homeless person; living day by day strung out on drugs and\/or selling them; family members who still lived in the area; etc. The flood of memories and sights & sounds prompted one resident to confide in a staff person: \u201cKeep me close by your side and keep your eye on me; stepping back into my old stomping grounds brings cravings for the old life, which I want to resist \u2013 and I need your help.\u201d Another resident remarked with a liberating sense of gratitude: \u201cIt feels so good to be back here and to not feel desperate!\u201d And that one simple statement so aptly represents the deplorable, hopeless life that used to be his day-by-day existence\u2026the desperation he felt to get his next drug, to survive on the streets, etc.<\/p>\n
We had great seats in the stadium, and the weather couldn\u2019t have been much better: 78 degrees with a pleasant breeze. It was an exciting back-and-forth game, with the Cards eventually defeating the Dodgers 11 to 7. Some of our guys enjoyed walking around and exploring the venue and taking selfies to send back home to their loved ones (or to post on Facebook).<\/p>\n
After making our way through some rush-hour traffic, we stopped at Cici\u2019s Pizza on Manchester Road. All the gentlemen enjoyed the buffet and the chatter and laughter and joking around.<\/p>\n
When we arrived back at in2Action around 7:45 pm, we weren\u2019t quite the same as when we departed earlier that day. Our hearts were a bit fuller and our fellowship with each other was a bit tighter. And that\u2019s the true value of these outings \u2013 they provide an opportunity to deepen friendships and make new \u2018clean and sober\u2019 memories of wholesome fun. This was more than just a day at the ballpark.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
More than Just a Day at the Ballpark On Thursday, April 11th, thirteen of our residents \u2013 plus three staff members \u2013 piled into our vehicles and headed to St. Louis to see the Cardinals play the L.A. Dodgers. As we made our way into the \u2018big city\u2019 shortly before Noon, for a handful of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":5526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-guys"],"yoast_head":"\n