54 years alive and very well

April 15 was my birthday. Another year lived, another notch to add to the 53 already there. But this milestone was up in the air for a while last August, when my own heart tried to kill me.

Frankly, I can’t believe I made it to see No. 54. How cool is that? So many changes over the years. Heck, more than a few of those changes took place in just the past nine months.

Those were life-altering changes, by the way. The results of heart attack and the quintuple bypass surgery left me smoke-free for the first time in decades. I definitely quit the hard way. Those events will never leave me, nor do I want them to, because they remind me that my life is a precious gift.

Speaking of reminders, the April 15 is one of those. It’s income tax day, which is depressing in itself. It is the day my boyhood hero, Abraham Lincoln, died 150 years ago from a single gunshot wound to the head the night before. (Very depressing.)

And it was also the day the Titanic sank in the north Atlantic, taking thousands of lives to the bottom of those frigid waters. (Really, really depressing!) Isn’t there anything positive about this day, besides my coming into the world as a wee babe?

There is. And it goes along with my love of baseball. Please, don’t roll the eyes just yet.

April 15 is also Jackie Robinson Day. He made his national debut into Major League Baseball on this date in 1947, playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was the first black man to take the field and play this great game in the major league. He endured so much hate and open bigotry to break down the color barrier.

To honor his legacy, all players, coaches, managers and even umpires wear the No. 42 on their jerseys as they play, though it wasn’t always this way. The first Jackie Robinson day was in 2004. That was when his uniform No. 42 was retired in perpetuity. Baseballs used in the games played that day had 42 imprinted on them.

It took Ken Griffey Jr. to ask permission to wear the number on the 15th in 2007, the 60th anniversary of Robinson’s debut, to start the ball rolling for all taking part in the celebratory game to wear that famous number to honor the hall of fame player.

At first it was in a few stadiums. As time went on, the idea took hold. Now, everyone playing in a major league baseball game April 15 wears Robinson’s number proudly, in honor of this brave man’s stand for equal rights on and off the field of baseball. A fine tradition was born, a tradition proudly played out for all to see about a good man who made history against all odds.

So, you see there is something positive about April 15 after all. Hey, it beats death and taxes, don’t you think?