Great Day at Target Field

(This is a "guest writer" post by Todd - husband of Sue's sister Nancy)

Nancy and I had the pleasure of joining Sue and Ed for the Twins game mentioned in the Post Bulletin article in an earlier post.

I took a bunch of pictures which can be viewed by clicking here . You can see it was a beautiful day and the stadium exceeded everyone's expectations. Our seats were excellent along the left field foul line and in the sun.

We ran into Sue and Nancy's cousin, LeAnn and her husband Scott at the game.

Later in the game, a friend of the Hruska's from Rochester, John, brought us all into the suites upstairs and also gave us a "behind the scenes" tour of the new ball park.

All in all it was a great day. As the game wound down, we were glad to take our seats on the Light Rail for the ride back to our car in Bloomington. Sue used the 30 minute ride to catch up on some sleep.

It was awesome to be there and experience this with Sue. Her journey has been a constant example to us of determination, selflessness, and faith.

This wasn't the first time at the Twins with Sue and Ed - we had these seats behind home plate at the Dome about 7 years ago......

Quick update

Sue has a new email address - please use hruskasue@charter.net

For those of you that missed the recent PB article on Sue here it is:

Pressbox View: Nice to hear 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game'
4/14/2010 8:56:26 AM

By Every time Justin Morneau hits a home run, Sue Hruska calls her son, Drew, with the news. OK, not so much when the Twins are playing on the West Coast (yawn) but you get the picture, she is a big, big Justin Morneau fan.And an even bigger Twins fan. We'll call her a fanatic."I just love 'em,'' she says. "My dad introduced me to baseball and I've been a fan ever since. He died in 1986 (Lowell Indrelle was 50 when he died), and unfortunately that was the year before the Twins won the World Series.''

Hruska makes sure she listens or watches as many games as possible."Tuesday was a bad day for me,'' she said. "The Twins had the day off.''An even bigger thrill is watching them in person.The Hruskas have partial season tickets and attended the April 3 exhibition at spanking new Target Field against the St. Louis Cardinals.Her first impression?"Wow.''On the scorecard, the Twins-Cardinals game was meaningless, but to Sue Hruska it was a milestone. A dream come true. A goal accomplished.You'lll see.

Hruska, 52, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in September of 2006."I was afraid that I would never see the Twins play an outside game in Minnesota,'' she said. "I told my son, if I'm still alive in 2010 we're going to the opener. Or I'll be an angel in the outfield."That was my goal.''

Hruska attended the game with her husband Ed and Sue's sister Nancy and husband Todd.Remember, when Sue was diagnosed in 2006, ground for Target Field had not even been broken.And when the doctor says the word, terminal, well, who knows?"You can't imagine the feeling walking into Target Field,'' she said. "The first thing I did when I got to my seat was to praise God. Next I visualized my dad being here. He would have loved to share this experience with me.''And then?"Then I thought of the next generation of all the young boys and girls who will be enjoying outdoor baseball with their moms, dads, grandmas and grandpas.''That would be Sue Hruska. Even given a terminal sentence, she was still thinking of others."

One thing about being terminal, things don't always have to be as bad as it sounds,'' she said, again bringing in a baseball analogy. "It hasn't always been easy following the Twins all these years. There's been years where it's been awfully frustrating.''Speaking of frustration, at one time, the tumors had vanished but cruelly reappeared on both sides of her head earlier this year. In late January she underwent even more surgery."She's been an inspiration to all of us,'' Ed said.

Now she takes one "huge'' dose pf chemotherapy once a month."After three-and-a-half years, I can handle the chemotheraphy,'' she said. "I still get tired but what can you do?''She's also losing some of her vision."When I was at Target Field, it was tough following the ball,'' she said. "You can hear what's happening and look around but I couldn't find the ball."It's OK on TV as long as the cameras directly follow the action but if I can't see it, I can still listen. And I do.''

Terminal is the cruelest word in the dictionary but for now, at least, the good guys are winning.Last fall Sue attended the wedding of her daughter, Holly, and now she met her goal of watching an outdoor baseball game in Minnesota.And next month Drew gets married.Can't wait."We're so excited,'' she said.And she's determined to make a return trip to Target Field""Go Twins,'' she said. "This is going to be a great season.''


A special thanks to Paul Christian for taking the time to visit with Sue and write this story. Ed

April MRI

Wednesday we went in for another MRI. We were surprised and delighted to find out that the two areas of concern haven't grown much since the last MRI six weeks ago. One encouraging thing that we were told while meeting with Dr. Buckner and Dr. Parney is that the tests showed that the areas of concern were "cold". Apparently, when a tumor is "cold" it means that there is not much blood flow, which is a good thing because the blood is what feeds the tumor. So, all around, we were very happy with what we were told on Wednesday.

I started Chemo on Wednesday night, and so far so good! I have been getting more and more rest lately, and have been feeling better with each day.

Holly is here now and acting as my personal secretary...I have lists of things that I have her help me with and we are getting through them, and having fun while we do it! Drew and Keeley's wedding is now less than a month away, and you can't even imagine how excited we all are for that day to be here.

Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers. God's blessings to all.

Sue (via Holly)

Sue hits the Target!

Sue behind home plate during the game (top) and at field level of section 126 before the first pitch (bottom)

Many of you know Sue is a huge Minnesota Twins fan. When diagnosed with her cancer in September of 2006 the talks and plans of the Twins new outdoor ballpark were happening It was at that time Sue set the goal of attending the opening day of Twins baseball at the new Target Field - three and a half years away.

So Saturday, April 3rd, Sue, sister Nancy, her husband Todd and myself attended a beautiful spring day of outdoor baseball - at the new Target Field!

Sue shared a lot of emotions - several which she will share with you soon. However, surrounded by this beautiful new ball park, sitting with the warm sun and the brisk air - the sound of baseball everywhere, Sue had a big smile. She had hit her Target - Target Field...and those of us that know and love her never doubted for a minute she would! (posted by Ed)

Added by Sue (4/4/10)

A quick note to let you all know I am doing great!!!! I am just happy and find new joy in each day.

The eye sight isn’t better but it isn’t worse - so I am very grateful to be able to get around on my own at home

Ahhh now to the ball park. You cannot imagine the feeling walking into the new Target Field. The first thing I did when I got to my seat (by the way Ed found the perfect seats) was to praise God. Next I visualized my Dad being here – he would have loved to shared this experience with me. Finally, I thought of the next generation of young boys and girls that would enjoy this experience with their mom’s, dad’s, grammas and grandpa’s at this wonderful park!

Later in the game a friend of ours, John Wade – who served on the commission to build the stadium, gave us a behind the scenes tour. John also arranged a stadium tour for us last year in Fort Myers. I have been blessed by so many kind people, thank you John. We saw firsthand how unique and special this facility is. Minnesota finally has a stadium second to none - it is something to be proud of!