baseball

This Grandpa's Note on a Bucket of Baseballs Will Touch Your Heart

"If you are a father cherish these times. You won't believe how quickly they will be gone," his note reads

Twitter user @TheBigE_21

Ethan Anderson’s grandfather Randy Long left a bucket of old baseballs at the batting cages they used to go to together, hoping some future kids would get a little more use out of them.

The note Long left on the bucket — of which Anderson’s grandmother sent him a picture and Anderson subsequently tweeted out — is touching hearts all over the world.

The note says the following:

Hope someone can use some of these baseballs in the batting cages. I found them cleaning my garage. I pitched them to my son and grandson for countless rounds. My son is now 46 y/o and my grandson is 23 y/o. I am 72 and what I won't give to pitch a couple of buckets to them. They have both moved away. If you are a father cherish these times. You won't believe how quickly they will be gone.

God bless

P.S. Give them a hug and tell them you love them every chance you get.

Anderson, who lives in Birmingham, Alabama, is just about two hours away from his grandparents in Montgomery.

“I get to go back and visit every now and then, just didn’t realize that he missed hitting in the cages, I guess,” he said. They plan to go together this weekend.

“He’s very excited," Anderson laughed.

He said his grandad, 72-year-old Long, is “just shocked, really,” as to how far his little note has reached.

“He was just trying to give away some free baseballs,” Anderson chuckled. “He doesn’t really know anything about social media really at all.”

Anderson added that when his grandfather heard ESPN was interested in the story, that’s when he finally understood. “He was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy,’” Anderson said.

Anderson said he’s been touched by how many regular people have reached out to him about his grandfather, from older folks happy to be reminded of the good old days to high school students.

“I’ve had a lot of kids younger than me telling me they’ll cherish the times they have in the cages with their dads or grandads,” he explained. “How they won’t take it for granted anymore.”

“I was the same way when I was younger, sometimes I didn’t really want to go to the cages but now looking back on it, it was some really good memories,” Anderson said. “I just hope everyone can kind of take away they need to cherish those moments while they have them.”

This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:

Contact Us