My life as a Chipper Jones fan-girl.

Hi, just in case you've been under a rock, this is Chipper Jones, and he's played for the Braves since 1993.

And I've loved him since then.

I suppose you could say that CJ was my first sports crush. I would sit at the balcony, getting in trouble because i wasn't going to bed, just so I could watch him up to bat one more time.
I had the jerseys and a signed black and white picture, along with a color photo someone had taken at the world series (and was a gift that i'd scored from a friend of a friend who knew I was basically the number one Chipper Jones fan girl of Pierce County Georgia).
My uncle and my cousin took me to a Braves game when I was in 3rd grade, and I remember being just intrigued by being even that close to him (we had dugout seats and I was in heaven, because "Hot dang, I can see Chipper Jones' face!").

See, I might not be able to remember everyone that's ever played for the Braves.
I can start naming players I remember.
But to me, Chipper's always been more than a baseball player.

Chipper embodies my childhood. One of the best memories i have is being at that baseball game at the old Fulton County Stadium, watching Chipper (in the rain), with my sign (which probably wilted by the end of the night) asking Chipper to marry me (forget the fact he was married, my 8 year old self could not be deterred).
I remember how mad I used to get when anyone would curse the name of Chipper Jones. Why? Because in the eyes of little girl me, he was absolutely perfect. And in the eyes of 24-year old me, he's still not far from it.
I remember fighting over the #10 jersey playing rec league softball, because we were all in love with either him or Javy Lopez (that was more towards the time everyone started hitting puberty), and we'd literally fuss over who got the coveted (and what we thought was blessed) #10 jersey. Pretty much, the only reason we wanted our parents to coach was so we'd get first dibs on the #10 jersey.
I remember how the house had to be absolutely quiet any time anyone talked about Chipper on TV, or he was up to bat, and God forbid anyone even sneeze if he was talking.

See, I feel like, every generation of baseball fans have that ONE person. That ONE person who defines a specific period of greatness in their childhood. Derek Jeter, Brian Wilson, Tim Lincecum, Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, and Chase Utley come to mind (i purposely picked non-Braves players as examples, just for the sake of it). Mine was, and always will be, Chipper Jones.
Chipper retiring comes as no surprise. No great thing can go on forever. Plus he has more important things to worry about, like his family.
And I understand that. I respect that.
Does it mean I'm not going to cry like a baby when I go to one more Braves game? No. I will cry, more than likely, sitting next to my boyfriend, who, Lord help him, watches me cry at movies and doesn't really know what to do. I will probably take 9,000 pictures and send it to everyone in my contact list, even my friends who are die-hard Giants fans or could care less about baseball, and post them all over Facebook. And I will be a blubbering mess, because Chipper Jones is the last thing from my childhood to slowly fade, leaving me with stories and pictures to show my children what greatness really was.

Someone asked me once if I could meet one person who defined my childhood, what were 2 things I'd tell them. Of course, I picked Chipper. So in a nutshell, here it is:
1, You, sir, if nothing else, have been loved by so many, because you have given much to us as fans. I'm sure i'm one of many who have stories like mine, and have childhoods driven by memories of watching you play. I'm proud to have gotten to grow up knowing what awesome is.
2, I feel like this doesn't begin to cover it, but thank you. Thank you for everything.


Now excuse me world, I am a blubbering mess (because every time I think about Chipper retiring, it feels like my heart rips out) and need a minute to recover.