In the chapter titled Dreams Fulfilled, he discovers something far more meaningful: that sometimes the dream you chase is only the doorway to a deeper understanding of life, family, and purpose.
By the time Peter reached the stage of life reflected in “Dreams Fulfilled,” the early years of baseball were behind him. Little League triumphs, Babe Ruth battles, neighborhood rivalries, and unforgettable summers had all settled into memory. The final seasons had passed; the dugouts had emptied. But the imprint of baseball remained—like stitching pressed permanently into the leather of a glove.
What stands out most in this chapter is the realization that dreams are not always fulfilled in the way we imagine. Sometimes the dream we chase is symbolic—representing effort, hope, and identity more than the object itself.
For Peter, the Wilson A2000 had always been more than a glove. Since 1957, when the model was first introduced with its long fingers, deep pocket, and revolutionary hinged palm, it has been a symbol of excellence. The professionals used it. Legends wore it. It represented the very best a baseball glove could be. As a boy, he prayed nightly for it. As a teenager, he still imagined what it would feel like to slip it over his hand, to hear the authoritative click of the leather swallowing a fastball.
But life never brought him that glove during his playing years. Instead, it gave it—unexpectedly—to his twin brother Tony, through the kindness and disappearance of the quiet, mysterious boy Fred. That moment defined a truth Peter would carry with him for decades: life’s “fairness” doesn’t always align with our desires.
Yet, as he grew older, Peter began to understand that dreams take on new shapes and new meanings as life unfolds. And sometimes, they come back around in ways we couldn’t have planned.
His life grew full—overflowing with love, responsibility, and purpose.
But even with a full life, baseball stayed with him. It lived inside him. It echoed in his memories, in the way he approached challenges, and in the values he carried forward. The lessons from childhood translated naturally into adulthood:
Resilience — learned from bruises behind the plate and long throws to second.
Teamwork — built from bonding with teammates and trusting his twin brother.
Discipline — forged through practices in the wind, heat, and dust.
Humility — taught by mistakes, close games, and missed opportunities.
Gratitude — embedded through friendships, kindnesses, and small moments of triumph.
As life moved forward, something else happened: the dream of the A2000 resurfaced. Not as a longing from a child’s heart, but as a reflection of the past. A reminder of everything that the glove had once represented. And now, as a grown man with a lifetime behind him, Peter finally had the means to fulfill that childhood wish.
He bought the glove.
Owning the A2000 as an adult wasn’t about recapturing youth. It was about acknowledging it. About recognizing that the dream had shaped him long before it ever became real.
And in that realization, Peter found something profound: sometimes the fulfillment of a dream is less important than the journey it took you on.
Because it was the journey that gave him everything else.
It gave him memories with Tony—his lifelong battery mate.
It gave him summers filled with friends, fields, and dusty games that stretched into twilight.
It gave him confidence, identity, and purpose.
It gave him the foundation for a life of teaching, guiding, and inspiring others.
It gave him stories powerful enough to become a memoir—stories that echo with nostalgia and remind readers of their own childhood dreams.
The boy who once chased the perfect glove eventually became the man who understood the deeper message behind it: that the dream mattered because it gave him something to grow toward.
Life had indeed fulfilled his dream—not in 1957, but in the decades afterward, when its meaning had expanded beyond leather and laces.
In the end, Dreams Fulfilled isn’t just about getting the glove. It’s about understanding that what we pursue as children often leads us to the life we’re meant to live. The A2000 was a symbol of beauty, hope, and aspiration. Baseball was the world that shaped him. And the man he became is the true fulfillment of every childhood dream he ever carried.
As Peter finally held that Wilson A2000 in his hands, he wasn’t completing a purchase. He was completing a circle.
And some circles are worth waiting a lifetime to close.