8B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 2020
COFFEE BREAK
Mom fears history will repeat for daughter marrying young
DEAR ABBY: I have been
divorced for 18 years. The main
reason for my divorce was that
I married too young and wasn’t
ready to be a wife and mother.
My daughter has just announced
her engagement to
a truly wonderful
man, but she’s only
19. I want to sup-
port her, but I’m
afraid she’s making
the same mistake I did. I have
tried talking to her about it, but
she is sure she is making the right
decision.
I am tight on money now, and
I don’t want to pay for an expen-
sive wedding if it’s going to be a
waste later on if my daughter gets
a divorce. But I do want to be by
her side and support her during
one of the most important times of
her life. What should I do?
— EXPERIENCED MOM
DEAR MOM: Your daughter
already knows you’re concerned
about her marrying so young and
the reasons why.
Ultimately, this is
DEAR
her decision — or
mistake — to make.
ABBY
Explain that you
won’t be able to con-
tribute fi nancially to her wedding
because money is tight right now,
but that you are there to support
her emotionally now and forever.
Tell her, too, that many successful
marriages begin at a courthouse,
and you wish her better luck than
you had.
DEAR ABBY: My wife of 38
years passed away a year and a
half ago. My ex-wife, to whom I
was married for 14 years, and
who is the mother of our adult
kids, is single again after four
failed marriages. She’s making
overtures about getting together
again.
She is assertive, likes to spend
and was very jealous.
At my age, I could use the
help, but it would require selling
my house and moving sev-
eral states away. She’s really
pushing, but I’m just not sure. It
would be nice to have someone
around because I am lonely. She
is a neat lady, but I just don’t
know. Help!
— PROPOSITIONED IN THE
MIDWEST
DEAR PROPOSITIONED:
Surely you can fi nd someone to
fi ll your loneliness other than a
woman you divorced for at least
two solid reasons. I have four
words of advice for you: When in
doubt — DON’T! Your common
sense is fueling your ambivalence.
Please pay attention to it. At most,
maintain a long-distance friend-
ship with her.
DEAR ABBY: During a recent
trip to the supermarket, I noticed
a couple in their 50s who were
shopping for produce. The woman
picked up eight different avo-
cados before selecting one. (I
counted.) The man touched three
different bags of oranges before
placing one in their cart. This
was repeated with each item they
shopped for!
I considered asking them to
stop touching the food, but I didn’t
want a confrontation. How would
you have handled this? Can you
please encourage your readers to
minimize what they touch for the
sake of public safety?
— CONCERNED SHOPPER
DEAR CONCERNED: I
would have handled it by talking
about it to the store manager.
In California, signs are posted
asking customers to please handle
merchandise as little as possible,
and shoppers are encouraged not
only to wear masks and practice
social distancing while shopping
for groceries, but also to wear
gloves.
Once you bring your groceries
home, you should wipe them
down, and ALWAYS wash your
hands thoroughly for the recom-
mended 20 seconds.
Young baseball players get memento fi lled with stadium dirt
By Yuri Kageyama
Associated Press
TOKYO — Japanese
high school baseball players,
heartbroken because their
annual tournament was can-
celed due to the pandemic,
are getting a consolation
prize: a spoonful of dirt.
It’s not just any soil —
it’s from Koshien Stadium.
Which means it holds spe-
cial meaning to all who
love the game in this base-
ball-mad country.
Every year, more than
3,000 teams go through
competitive regional play-
offs to advance to the
fi nals at Koshien in Nishi-
nomiya city, central Japan
— the prized stage that’s
seen the likes of major
leaguers Ichiro, Daisuke
Matsuzaka and Hideki
Matsui.
And every year, after
a team loses, the players,
many weeping uncontrol-
lably, scrape the dirt near
the dugout to take home as
a memento.
On a recent afternoon,
it was the members of the
professional club, the Han-
shin Tigers, who were dig-
ging with their hands to
collect dirt from Koshien,
their home stadium.
The dirt will be put in
transparent balls hanging
from key chains and sent
to some 50,000 high school
baseball players. Each
ball has the words: “2020
102nd Koshien,” for the
102nd tournament, and
pictures of a ball, bats and
the stadium. They are to be
delivered in August, when
the tournament had been
scheduled to start.
Hibiki Kawamato, a
centerfi elder and slugger
at Iwamichisuikan High
School in Shimane Prefec-
ture, western Japan, was
thrilled. The Tigers are
his favorite team, and he
plans to put the key chain
proudly on his bag.
The game means so
much to him.
“When I get a hit when
the team really needs it, I
get praised by everyone,”
he said. “I’m going to play
baseball till I die.”
Akihiko Tanimoto,
a social studies teacher
73rd
Anniversary
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Be safe, practice social distancing.
Photo by Kyodo News via AP
Akashi Commercial High School baseball players collect dirt of the grounds after losing
to Riseisha High School during a semifi nal game at the National High School Baseball
Championship at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Japan, on Aug. 20, 2019. Every year,
after a team loses, the players, many weeping uncontrollably, scrape the dirt from foul
territory near the dugout to take home as a memento. Japanese high school baseball
players who had their heart set on going to the annual tournament won’t be able to go,
with the 2020 event canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
who works with the team,
said the players were still
working out hard, and the
cancellation served as a
lesson to not quit in the
face of hardships.
“Koshien was our goal,
but it is not the purpose of
why we play high school
baseball, which is about
not giving up until it’s
over,” he said in a tele-
phone interview.
The school has made
it to the Koshien summer
tournament 10 times.
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How the custom of
bringing home Koshien
dirt originated is unclear.
But it’s a tradition that
dates back decades.
The winning team also
gathers the dirt, but only
after the fi nal award cere-
mony, which is witnessed
by fans from all over
Japan. They fi ll Koshien’s
stands and cheer rau-
cously, in much the same
way American fans follow
the NCAA basketball
tournament.
The dirt is replenished
regularly to make sure
there is enough.
The idea of the key
chain originated from
Tigers players, who under-
stood the disappointment
of having the Koshien
dream shattered. Many
played in the tournament
as youngsters.
“We all pondered what
we could do for them,
and I think it holds spe-
cial meaning that we did
this for them together as
a team,” said outfi elder
Kosuke Fukudome, who
took part in the Koshien
tournament while at PL
Gakuen high school.
“I want them all to stay
optimistic,” said Fuku-
dome, formerly of the
Chicago Cubs, Cleveland
Indians and the Chicago
White Sox.
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