Fresh from hospital, a fan needed to make one stop at Fenway Park

On an early spring morning in 2007, I had just been released from a two-night stay at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center following the implant of two stents, a life-saving procedure that I had not foreseen after a quadruple bypass surgery eight years earlier. It was a wake-up call that I needed to do more than just rely on an expert surgeon’s intervention to keep enjoying my life as a husband, parent, grandparent, and Red Sox fan.

My wife, Anne, who passed away two and a half years ago after a courageous battle with cancer, said she would get me home right away after picking up my prescription. I said that the first stop had to be Fenway Park, just down the street, because I had twice missed the delivery of our bleacher seat season tickets. Reluctantly she agreed, and we pulled up in front of Gate D, where there was no trouble finding a parking spot since Opening Day was a few days off.

I asked her to watch the car while I walked to the ticket office. As I returned, I noticed her conversing with an older gent who wore a hard hat, obviously a supervisor of the many workers busily sprucing things up for the big day. I realized she was talking to one of the big shots, Larry Lucchino, and she seemed to have his undivided attention. She was never intimidated by celebrities but always respectful.

She showed him my hospital wristband and said, “Mr. Lucchino, do you realize that my husband just got released from Beth Israel after major heart surgery but he insisted on getting his season tickets before going home and resting?”

His response: “Good, that’s what we like to see!”

RIP, Mr. Lucchino. You gave Red Sox Nation a lot to cheer about.

MICHEL SPITZER Jamaica Plain