“Could I maybe use some of my savings to buy a brand-new aluminum bat at the store?” he asked, his voice bubbling with excitement.

“Don’t you already have a perfectly good bat sitting out in the garage, honey?” I teased gently.

“I do, Mom, but that old black bat is thirty ounces, and it’s way too heavy for my swing right now,” he explained, waving his hands.

“Coach Miller said if I switched to a lighter twenty-seven-ounce bat, I’d start smashing line drives into left field every single game.”

A big, happy laugh burst out of me, bouncing off the bedroom walls and filling the room with pure warmth.