A little more than 50 years ago, I met Tom in first grade at Sacred Heart School on Chicago’s Far South Side. We bonded over sports, and he introduced me to baseball cards. We went to the same high school, where we played a lot of intramural sports together. Even though we went to different colleges, we remained tight.

After college I moved just north of Chicago while Tom moved next door to his childhood home. We stayed in touch, occasionally meeting at a Cubs or Blackhawks game.

Yesterday at Wrigley Field, Tom and I celebrated 50 years of friendship. Where better to celebrate friendship than the “Friendly Confines” of Wrigley Field? We caught up on our lives. We laughed about old times, recalling various hijinks we shared. We toasted a few friends who have passed. We even managed to watch a little of the game.

We tried to pinpoint the first baseball game we attended together. We think it was a White Sox game in early (and cold) 1974. We recalled all of our times at Cubs games. We even compared our individual travels for sporting events.

Unfortunately, the Cubs lost the doubleheader to the rival St. Louis Cardinals. It didn’t really matter, though. This day wasn’t about the Cubs, who were eliminated from the playoff race a while ago. It was all about friendship, 50 years of friendship.

— John Wroblewski, online writer