Barry All Surprises at Outfielder Celebration

After carefully following Barry's website, and the news, this past week, for any insight into whether Barry would be accepting the SF Giants invitation to attend Saturday's celebration, and hearing only rumors, I decided to take a chance.  As I threw my weathered '25' jersey in the trunk, just in case, I still had that gleam of hope, that maybe he'd surprise us all.  With Barry's flair for the dramatic, it was possible, I thought.  As I fought the south bay traffic on the 101, and made multiple illegal traffic maneuvers to get through the city traffic, I chanced a lot, so I could be at the ballpark on time.  On time, for what?  The eternal optimist, I am.  I did question myself, why I was so driven?  As we entered the parking lot, and nearly ran the Lot A attendant over, and then literally ran and pushed through the crowd to enter the ballpark, I thought, "Why are these people walking so slowly when Barry could appear at any moment?"  Back to reality, back to reality.  Finally in my seats, with my camera ready, I watched, patiently, as they introduced each of the Giants in chronological order.  As each former Giant took their positions on the field on their designated spot, I counted and found only one left.  Still, the eternal optimist, I told my husband, I bet he just runs out with his godfather; now that would be a class act.  When my prediction rang true, it was though a fog had lifted on AT&T park.  Everything was normal again, by baseball standards in my book.  While Barry sported trousers and not his typical relaxed fit uniform pants, it was still Barry, in all his glory.  This moment for me was priceless.  I did wonder what was going on in his head.  Had he let it all go?  How did he feel when he drove up to the park?  Was this his first time back?  How were the fans going to react?  So far, at least to me, they all had been in denial, except maybe for a few, that decided that booing Barry was hip. Such was the case, of the young professionals sitting in front of us.  Upon hearing their boos when he was announced, I kindly told them, just maybe they shouldn't be sitting there and to keep their comments to themselves.  Then, by accident, I promise, my daughter sprayed nacho cheese, on one of them.  By accident, I said, and yes, I laughed.  With the privilege of sitting in the vicinity of Barry, I watched as he sat in the stands.  My favorite moment, was when one unruly but factual fan, yelled, "Kent, you're a BUM!"  Barry turned around like he had never heard that one before, with a huge grin.  Another great moment was when he stood up and waved to his fans, just across the fence from the many times he waited on deck, and waved to his family.  I hope he knows we are all his family, the fans who grew up with Barry, as the greatest hitter in baseball, who made it all worthwhile to sit through the rain, wind and walks.  This is the way I choose to remember Barry, and I hope the way he chooses to remember us.