Support System

Deb expressed to us her gratitude for her unusually strong support system: "I have an amazing personal support system. My partner, my friends, and my family ... they all know that baseball is a major part of my life and that they sometimes have to take a back seat to it. My voice mail clearly states that 'I'm either working or at the ball field! Baseball is my life -- work just pays the bills!' My partner even became a member of the Executive Board! I swear it was so she could see more of me." Deb contributes a great deal of her personal success to this network of friends and family.

Melissa, Denise, and Deb have stayed close: "My sisters are not far away at all! Denise lives five miles away from me, and Melissa is smack in the middle." Denise works as an ultrasound technician in Providence for the Women & Infants Hospital; she follows in the footsteps of the girls' mother, who has been in the medical field for years. Melissa has cut back on the hours she used to spend as the Assistant Manager of Petco in Providence but works a couple of days per week around her schedule as a mom.

Deb enjoys the time she spends as an aunt: "It seems like I'm always talking in the third person to kids -- referring to myself as Coach Deb or Auntie Debbie. You know it's bad when it carries over into adult conversation too!"

As well as a professional partner for the Pawtucket Slaterettes, Sarah is one of Deb's closest friends. Deb tells us that "I talk to her so much that I sometimes feel compelled to say I love you before we get off the phone! Sarah is the President of the Pawtucket Slaterettes so we do a lot of work together." Our group watched Sarah in action as she coached an Instructional League game, and the camaraderie between the two women was apparent. Even when one of them does not have a game of their own on a particular evening, she often comes down to the field to help the other out.

What support system would be complete without a few furry friends? Deb has more than a few! She tells us that "my brief run as a manager at PETCO is partly to blame here." Her pets include: Shadow, a pit bull and black labrador mix; two cats, Pepe and Taz; Sherbet, Reese's, and Squeaks who are all guinea pigs; Forest, a hamster; two lovebirds, a yellow ringneck parakeet, a son conure, and four other parakeets; and a 29 gallon and 10 gallon tank with assorted fish, including five betas. Deb jokes, "I used to be a strong supporter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, until I realized that I had as many animals in my house as they do in their entire facility!"

For two years Deb has been with her partner Emily, and the two have planned a commitment ceremony for the summer of 2007. She tells us that "living in Rhode Island is an interesting place to be when you are a same-sex couple. Times are definitely changing! It's only a matter of time. I don't know if it's because I'm so involved in a female sport or what, but sometimes I wonder if lesbians really are the majority!" Deb's relationship with Emily is key in providing support for her, and the four of us send our best wishes to the two of them in all their future endeavours.

Eventually, the two plan to start a family of their own. Deb says that although she will always be proud of her experience with and influence on the field of baseball as a woman, "Check back in a few years and I hope to say that I'm most proud of being a MOM!"

"A family includes those who reach for your hand,
but touch your heart."
~Kathleen Grove