On Wednesday morning, Wayne Williams woke up in his North Carolina home to something he had been waiting his entire life for: the Cubs were in the World Series and had a chance to win.
A lifelong Cub fan, Williams grew up listening to the Cubs with his father, Wayne senior, on the radio. They kept the faith, always hoping that ‘next year’ would finally get here already. It never did.
But this year was different. And it was time for Wayne to keep a promise made many years ago.
He found a couple of flashlights, his trusty radio, and packed a few extra batteries — just in case. Then he packed one thing he knew he’d need, the white and blue ‘W’ flag for when the Cubs won.
The decision to drive over 600 miles and for 10 hours to meet with his father back in Indiana was an easy one. It was a pact, after all, made between father and son over 35 years ago to listen to the games together when — not if — the Cubs got to the World Series. Williams didn’t know that it would take so long to be able to keep the promise he had made to his dad so many years ago.
When he finally arrived, Williams was exhausted, but anxious to find his dad. It didn’t take long. He was relieved to see the gate to Greenwood Forest Lawn Cemetery open and he parked his car.
It only took a few minutes to grab his chair, flashlight, and of course the W flag and set up camp where his father had been laid to rest in 1980. Wayne turned on the radio, found the game, and listened. “Look dad, here’s your son. Keeping his part of the bargain,” he said to himself.
And in the early hours of Thursday morning, after ten heart-pounding innings of baseball, Wayne Williams senior shared a little glimpse of heaven with his son and the Cubs became champions.