Finding a Little Normal (Behind the Scenes)

It's Behind the Scenes Tuesday (on Thursday for me). Where we tell you the real life behind the picture. sometimes funny, sometimes weird. Sometimes unbelievable, sometimes sobering.. Sometimes heartwarming. Always real.  Feel free to link up with Crystal to share your story or read a few others.

This week's picture:

Hi, friends. You may have heard on the news about the tragedy at the NavyYard on Monday. At least, I would assume you did. Hard for me to tell, since I live in the midst of it, so I am not sure what national coverage existed beyond the DC metro area.

Hit really close to home - literally - and figuratively for me. I have a college friend who works there. Thankfully, he was in training in California this week. I have a new acquaintance (thanks to Twitter meetups and my beloved Nationals) who works there. Thankfully he was ok. But 12 people were not OK. And their families are now dealing with the aftermath.

And that NavyYard? That's a mere few blocks from Nats Park. Where we go ALL the time. The Navy used some of the parking lots as staging for families to reunite with loved ones. And as the uncertainty in the following hours ensued, the Nats game was postponed. Two thumbs up to the Nats and MLB for recognizing that safety was important, and that life is bigger than baseball.

Tuesday the Nats were back at it, playing a double header (to make up Monday, plus the regular Tuesday game). And they came out to play. Swept the double header (WOOT!) from the Atlanta Braves (WOOT WOOT!).  But what struck me Tuesday was how much the community - the Nationals community - embraced our NavyYard neighbors. The word passed quickly through the social media networks to wear blue and gold. (For you non baseball readers, the Nats are mostly red & white, with accents of blue. Nice, patriotic, fitting for DC - but not US Navy colors).

I put my usual Nats attire away and instead chose my US Olympic shirt (from the Torino games ... yeah, my shirts are old), and since all my gold is tied to black (Vanderbilt), I went for the "mom save the day stash". I have a box of ribbons and beads to make hair ribbons for my girls. Covers a multitude of "need to dress like a _____ day" school projects. Sure enough, lots of blue and yellow/gold to be had in there. So I whipped out a hair ribbon and donned it proudly.

I headed out to the ballpark with tons of other folks sporting the Navy Blue and Gold as well. Embracing the community, and standing together to support our neighbors.

To the families of the men and women lost on Monday, your loved ones served us -- all of us -- well, and we are thankful for them, and sorry for your loss.

To the Nationals community - thank you for putting aside baseball and being real neighbors. And thank you for coming back to the game we love, allowing us to look for a little "normal" and find some joy on the day after a very terrible day.

I'm proud to be a Nats fan, never more so than this week.