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A veteran’s lifelong goal to visit all 30 Major League Baseball ballparks finally came true through Wish of a Lifetime.
Key takeaways
- Celebrate your Wish of a Lifetime by pursuing meaningful goals at any age.
- Discover how baseball can foster connection, community and resilience throughout life.
- Honor lifelong passions that bring families together and create lasting memories.
Summary
Wish of a Lifetime helped veteran Ken Kroiss fulfill a decades-long dream of visiting every Major League Baseball ballpark. Inspired by childhood trips to games with his father, Kroiss turned his love of baseball into a lifelong quest that became a shared passion with his wife and family. Along the way, baseball provided community, comfort and connection, including during Kroiss’ military service in Korea.
After a cancer diagnosis linked to Agent Orange forced him to pause his travels, Kroiss received support that enabled him to complete visits to the remaining ballparks. Reaching his final stadium at Nationals Park brought Kroiss’ journey full circle and reinforced his belief that people should continue pursuing their dreams regardless of age.
The key takeaways and summary were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.
Full transcript
[0:00:06] Every stadium is different, but the people are the same.
[0:00:10] I love seeing the excitement.
[0:00:11] The people are behind their team, and they yell and scream and roar.
[0:00:18] My wish of a lifetime is here, and I can’t believe it.
[0:00:25] I was 7 years old when I went to my first baseball game.
[0:00:29] My dad, he was a baseball fan.
[0:00:31] He took me to the games in Milwaukee, and, um, I fell in love with the sport.
[0:00:37] I knew that it was gonna be a lifelong thing for me.
[0:00:41] I was in the military for two years.
[0:00:42] I was deployed in Korea.
[0:00:44] They put me right on the DMZ, and I was a dog handler.
[0:00:49] It was a tough experience, and we had to make the best of it, and, um, baseball was a big part of it.
[0:00:55] We decided to build a field, and we had tournaments there.
[0:00:59] You could see that they fell in love with it.
[0:01:03] It brought us back to reality and, and to calm us down a little bit to continue our duty.
[0:01:22] Well, I love the Brewers.
[0:01:24] I took my kids to baseball games when they were young.
[0:01:27] My wife fell in love with the sport too.
[0:01:30] She’s sitting there watching the game and, “Ooh, you see that play?” And
[0:01:34] then, “Oh, I thought he was out.” And that really, really touches me.
[0:01:39] As I seen the teams play, I thought, I wonder what their park is like, you know?
[0:01:44] And it made me wanna visit all the stadiums.
[0:01:50] So I made it a quest.
[0:01:52] It really changed our life and made our lives more fulfilling.
[0:01:58] But in 2017, I was diagnosed with cancer from Agent Orange.
[0:02:04] I had to stop.
[0:02:16] When I first heard about it, I thought, Oh, my lord, really?
[0:02:20] I can’t believe that there’s some people out there that, that are s- that are really willing to help, and they couldn’t have done a better job.
[0:02:29] We went to New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore.
[0:02:33] You just try to take it all in and you can’t.
[0:02:36] I love baseball, but it’s the fans that make it fantastic.
[0:02:41] Baseball is really a community.
[0:02:44] No matter where you go, what stadium you’re in, the people are having fun.
[0:02:48] It’s fulfilling to everybody.
[0:02:58] It’s got my name on it.
[0:02:59] Lady at ballpark: It does.
[0:03:00] And it has 30 for the 30 ballparks that you visited.
[0:03:02] (Back to Kroiss) Oh, how cool is that?
[0:03:05] I never thought that in my wildest dreams something like that would happen.
[0:03:10] Man #1 at ballpark: How many stadiums do you have left?
[0:03:11] Kroiss: This is it.
[0:03:12] Man #2: This is it?
[0:03:12] Kroiss: Yep.
[0:03:13] Man # 1: Congratulations.
[0:03:14] Man #2: Congratulations.
[0:03:14] (Back to Kroiss) I thought it was phenomenal to be there in the crowd, enjoying the game.
[0:03:19] I think of my dad every time I went to a ballpark.
[0:03:22] I’m so happy and proud that my family is here with me to fill my quest.
[0:03:27] I’m happy to see all the parks, but I’m sad to see it come to an end.
[0:03:32] It was a lifelong commitment, and I feel more connected as a fan.
[0:03:39] I believe that everybody should pursue their dreams, no matter how old they are, to get the most out of life as you possibly can.
[0:03:47] My wish came true, and I’m happy it did.
[0:03:52] Thank you for making this possible for me.
