“Wrigley Field: Home of the Chicago Cubs,” read the bright red marquee with bold white letters at the main entrance to Wrigley Field. Upon approaching the iconic stadium, I froze in awe like a deer caught in headlights. It was a surreal moment as I stood on the corner of Clark and Addison to attend a Cubs game for the first time. My family and I had been waiting for this moment for a long time, and we could not believe it was actually happening. When game time was growing nearer, a sea of royal blue engulfed the stadium, and it felt like I was at a concert because I could not move around that much. There was a stench of sweat in the crowd, and I could hear all the people complaining about how hot it was outside. Once the gates opened to let people in the game, excitement filled the air. My heart started skipping beats as I awaited my turn to enter. Beeping sounds were coming from all over as fans scanned their ticket to enter. When I took my first step into the stadium, a rush of happiness came over me. I looked like a little girl walking into Disney World for the first time. It all felt so surreal and dreamlike. I had been waiting for this moment for so long, and my dream was actually coming true.

After everyone in my family scanned their tickets, we practically danced our way up to the grandstand to the sounds of the old organ music. As we saw the field for the first time, we were all in complete shock at how huge it was. The dirt was perfect and looked ready to be messed up. The turf was perfectly manicured, and the baselines were perfectly straight. The outfield walls were covered in lush, green ivy that was even more beautiful in person than on television. The players were practicing on the field, and my brother was given the chance to step foot on the field and watch the players practice. He even got his ball signed by a few of them. I stood there in amazement as I watched my brother stand so close to baseball players like Robinson Cano and Kyle Seager; my body steamed with jealousy of my brother. As game time approached, we went to go find our seats. There were so many seats, and I could not imagine how many people could fit in the stadium. The empty seats began to fill in very quickly and the stadium soon became packed. The sound of excitement began to fill the air even more as game time got closer and closer. I heard laughter, small talk, and even some screaming. The aroma of popcorn and hot dogs came in like a strong wind. I suddenly became hungry even though we had eaten before entering the stadium at a local sports grill. My parents purchased a couple of Wrigley’s Old Style beers, and they bought us some waters to cool down our parched bodies. The water trickled down my throat and it felt so refreshing. Everyone got settled in their seats anxiously awaiting the start of the game.

The enormous crowd rose to their feet and put their Cubs hats over their hearts, as a woman sang the national anthem. Chills ran through my body, and I had goosebumps. Her voice sounded like an angel, and it was so beautiful to watch 41,000 people sing along. Soon after, we heard, “let’s play ball!” and the game started. Thousands of fans were screaming and yelling; I felt so exhilarated as I joined in. The game started off very slow and soon enough the Cubs were losing six to nothing in the sixth inning against the Mariners. By this time, my family was ready to leave since it did not look like the Cubs could pull off a win. Just as we doubted the Cubs, they made an unbelievable comeback in the seventh inning and tied up the game. A rush of excitement filled the whole stadium, and the fans looked alive again. My body was truly filled with joy and felt thrilled. I felt like I did when my parents surprised me with a car for Christmas. After the comeback, the Cubs kept scoring and scoring, but so did the Mariners. The game extended into a very long, twelve inning battle, but we never grew tired and kept going on pure adrenaline. And when it ended, everyone exclaimed, “Cubs win, Cubs win, Cubs win!”

My family and I hugged until our bodies hurt and high-fived until our veins broke in our hands. By this time we did not care about being hot anymore, we were hot with positive energy. My throat felt as if it was lit on fire by the end of the night and I lost most of my voice from screaming so much. As the whole stadium sang, “Hey Chicago what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today. Go Cubs go,” I felt a strong sense of unity and belonging to the Cubs and to my family. Not only did my love for the Cubs grow, but so did my love for my family. I also had the feeling that anything is possible, and that we should never give up.  The game opened my eyes to a new outlook on life from this point on. I realized exactly how grateful I was to have my family, which is more than I can describe in words.