It’s always been my #1 dream to go to San Francisco and watch my favorite team play at their home stadium.

But being a San Francisco Giants fan who is from and lives in Louisiana made that dream always seem impossible. However, dreams do come true, and later in June I’ll be standing in a sea of black and orange, finally hearing all cheers when the home team hits a home run or gets a big strikeout. For three games, I won’t be the odd-man-out, or the minority in the crowd. I’ll see people who all want the same thing as me – a Giants win.

So how did a Louisiana native become a Giants fan? Well, that’s what makes this dream even better. The answer is because of my dad.

He is from New York, and moved to Slidell, La., when he was a kid. Back then, they were the New York Giants, so when my dad moved here and the Giants moved to San Francisco, he didn’t switch fav teams. Instead, he followed the Giants, who never won a World Series and always struggled to be above .500. He checked the box score in the newspaper every day – keeping track of batting averages and ERAs. Then he had his oldest child – me – and as I got older, I would always ask my dad if I could stay up and watch the Giants whenever they were on cable TV. It didn’t happen often, and when it did, the games didn’t start until late because of the West Coast start times. Being thankful for time with his (favorite) kid, he always let me stay up while he taught me the rules of the games.

I was hooked.

For years my dad and I talked about one day going to San Francisco together, but there was never enough money to even think about it. SF became like a magical place that didn’t even exist – somewhere you couldn’t even go to. It was easier to think of it that way. But every three or four years, we could save up enough money to go see the Giants play the Houston Astros or the Atlanta Braves. We could drive easily to either of those places, get a cheap hotel and tickets, eat fast food, and watch like two kids in a candy store at the site of our favorite players in person.

Fast-forward to 2022, and after all the hardships around Covid, I told my dad that we have to find a way to go to San Francisco while we’re both young enough and able-bodied. We knew it would be tough, but we decided it had to happen. I told my dad that if I didn’t get to go to SF with him at some point in my life, then I would never go, because this has been OUR dream, and I have to do it with him.

We’ve been saving all we can – it’s taken a while, but as of May 9, 2023, we have our plane tickets, hotel reservations, and Giants tickets bought and paid for. Next month we will be off for the trip of a lifetime alongside my mom and husband who are coming too.

I’m certain I will cry for at least the first hour that I’m actually inside the ballpark. It still doesn’t feel real – like it won’t actually happen, but as the days tick away, and every day that I’m watching a Giants game (that I record on DVR to watch later if I’m at work), I know it’s getting closer to becoming reality.

As a Louisiana sports fan who loves the Saints, Pelicans, LSU, and Tulane, no one ever understands how I’m a Giants fan. Well, this is how. And I’m positive after seeing my boys play at home, I’ll somehow be an even bigger fan when I return home.

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