when i was a boy for some reason i remember it being a very big deal to have the official jacket of your favorite team. somehow i remember it being a very expensive and rare idea. but my mom was always very good to me and my sister and i think on my 16th birthday i got it and i was so happy and mary really liked the cubs' shy second baseman, mr. ryne sandberg - as did most of the ladies of chicagoland.

somehow my jacket ended up in her hands and she took this picture and it became my favorite picture for a pretty long time. weird how it was in the bottom of a shoebox for the last year or two.

is that a lesson for us?

nah.