A grandfather who left a bucket of baseballs at a batting cage with a touching note about cherishing life has since reunited with his son and grandson.
The grandpa from Alabama, Randy Long, and his grandson Ethan Anderson sat down with the “Today” show, according to a piece published Monday, and talked about how the note led Anderson to drive two hours from Birmingham, Alabama, to Montgomery to see his grandfather and hit some balls with him like they used to do.
“It went well,” Long shared with the outlet. “We had my son and grandson there. We both still got the swing in. I was able to throw a few of them for strikes out there, too.” (RELATED: Nationals Vs. Yankees Sets Baseball TV Ratings Record With 4 Million Viewers)
WATCH:
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. Now the story has gone viral and Ethan and Randy are joining us live to share their story. pic.twitter.com/8NvWrssGLo
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 5, 2020
At one point, the grandfather said he has since been in contact with the young boy, who is on a travel ball team, who found his bucket of old baseballs with the note and shared how they planned to meet together on Monday out at the batting cages.
Later in the interview, Ethan explained how he really didn’t realize how much it meant to his grandfather until he “saw the note.”
As previously reported, Long was “cleaning out” his garage when he found the baseballs and decided to leave them at the batting cage with a note on it.
“Free. Hope someone can use some of these baseballs in the batting cages,” Randy wrote on the note, in a tweet shared by Ethan. It was shared by ESPN.
“I pitched them to my son and grandson for countless rounds,” he added. “My son is now 46 years-old and my grandson is 23 years-old. I am 72 and what I wouldn’t give to pitch a couple of buckets to them.”
My grandad left an old bucket of balls at the batting cages we used to go to with this note on them…. I’m not crying, you’re crying pic.twitter.com/zlQFwNq1R2
— Ethan Anderson (@TheBigE_21) September 28, 2020
The grandfather’s note continued, “They have both moved away. If you are a father cherish these times. You won’t believe how quickly they will be gone.”
At the closing of the note, Long wrote an extra part that urged whoever read his letter to give those who are close to you “a hug and tell them you love them every chance you get!”