My Best Friend From T-Ball

By Adie Hughes

Mychal Beaulieu and I have been best friends since the first day of kindergarten when he

recognized me from our local T-Ball league. I was the shy kid who didn’t want to speak, but

Mychal loudly announced that I played for the red T-Ball team, and he remembered that because

“my favorite baseball team is the Cincinnati Reds and his favorite baseball player is Joey

Votto!!!” which he screeched with excitement. That was the first time we bonded over baseball

and the beginning of a lifelong friendship. Nowadays, Mychal sticks out more for his NBA-like

stature than for his voice, but he still draws eyes the second he walks into a room. Not much has

changed, really. Mychal still won’t pass up an opportunity to embarrass me, he never lost his

loyalty to Joey Votto, and he still loves baseball.

Mychal and I became an unbeatable team. Throughout middle and high school we were

the duo that everyone wanted to emulate. We sat together in every class, we played on the same

Unified Basketball team, and we coached an AAU team together. The only difference between

us was that I wore a Derek Jeter jersey and he wore Joey Votto. Mychal matured a lot in high

school and discovered a love for math. He decided that he wanted to go to the University of
Maine and become a math teacher so that he could coach baseball after work. I always knew that

he was going to be a great coach, just like his dad, who had coached our Little League team.

Leaving the state for college and leaving Mychal behind was one of the hardest decisions that I

ever made, but I knew our friendship would withstand any distance.

There was one spring day from my Junior year at Nichols that I will never forget. I had

just gotten off the golf course and back to my room when Mychal called. It was rare for him to

call me, but I answered, thinking it would just be a brief update. Needless to say, I was wrong.

Without as much as an introduction, I heard his voice on the other end.

“Abby is pregnant,” Mychal told me, referring to his wife.

Silence split the line. I had watched Mychal turn from an immature little kid into an

amazing and supportive husband at such a young age. Now, he was about to continue his growth

and start a journey into fatherhood. I stood there in shock, waiting for him to tell me that he was

kidding. He always had a trick up his sleeve, but not this time. I could hear the pride in his voice.

Mychal was the kind of guy who still used a flip phone, wore sweaters from his

grandpa’s basement, and wore the same shoes for three years before he bought a new pair. He

enjoyed a simple life, not bound by the typical stressors of most men in their twenties. His

simple life was about to be turned upside down, and we both knew it. What amazed me most

though, was his sense of calmness and joy as he told me. I knew in that moment that he was

ready.

I have been lucky enough to be a part of Mychal’s journey since our T-Ball days when

half our hours were spent pretending to be Derek Jeter and Joey Votto. Now, I get to watch my

best friend become an amazing husband, a loving father, and soon, a T-Ball coach himself. I

have always known the impact that Mychal has had on my life from the moment he entered it
and forced me out of my shell, but I never knew that I had done the same for him until months

later, when the most beautiful part of this story came to be. Another phone call came in, this time

after a doctor’s appointment where the baby’s gender was revealed.

“Adie, I’ve got a baby name picked out, and without knowing it you helped me pick it,”

Mychal told me.

Joey.