In one of my annual rites of spring, I came away from the home opener for the Cleveland Indians a pretty happy camper. Although it’s only one game out of 162, the Tribe won with heroics from Casey Blake, and it was rather balmy to boot.

Keeping in mind that it was the earliest opener in the history of the organization, I had visions of a repeat of last year’s game. That opener was postponed when blizzards blowing from Lake Erie made conditions unplayable with the Indians one out away from winning it in the fifth inning.

Last Monday’s game was in stark contrast to last year, with temperatures hitting 60 degrees and a pleasant day in Pronkville, the third-level mezzanine named after the Tribe’s longball-hitting designated hitter, Travis Hafner.

But neither the outcome of the game nor the weather was my most satisfying part of the day. What thrilled me more than anything was that attending with my daughter and me were Jamie’s good friend, 22-year-old Katie Terpack, and her mom, Lori.

I couldn’t help but look up and to my left while we were sitting in Pronkville during the opener. It was in that section that my wife, Jamie and I sat last fall for the Tribe’s opening playoff game with the New York Yankees, and the night that Jamie got a call that something was seriously wrong with Katie.

As her cell phone kept ringing throughout the game, she learned that Katie had been rushed by ambulance to the hospital of Sharon Regional Health System, and flown to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh for emergency surgery for a brain hemorrhage. It was probably caused by a defect in her circulatory system that generally arises during embryonic or fetal development or soon after birth.

With Jamie in tears while trying to watch the playoff game, I wondered if Katie would survive, let alone ever be able to attend another Indians game. She was with us last year in April, and despite the cold and snow, she was ready to stay to the bitter end. Sitting there in the heat of an October night, I remember fearing that Katie might have seen her last Tribe game.

But in nothing short of a miracle, she returned home from the hospital around Christmas after days of an induced coma on the heels of the complicated but life-saving surgery, and after the beginning of months of therapy for problems with speech and paralysis on her right side.

When it was time to buy tickets for the opener a couple of months ago, Jamie told me that Katie was planning to go, which thrilled me. I thought if she could make it to this year’s opener, after all she had been through since last year’s first game, that alone would be worth the trip, regardless of how the game or weather turned out.

But while she still has to work hard at therapy, Katie made it to the game, and more than that. No longer dependent on a cane for balance, she walked a lot. After lunch at a restaurant across the street from the stadium, it was off to our seats, and of course, to the Indians Team Shop. Katie celebrated by buying herself some pretty nice things.

Then it was back to our seats for a more than four-hour stay at the ballpark, and down the seemingly endless ramp and a pretty good walk to the parking lot after the game. I think all of the walking, while probably tiring Katie quite a bit, was terrific therapy in itself. I found it all inspiring.

During the game, while Jamie was at the concession stand, Lori asked Katie how she was doing, and with a big smile, asked if it was her best game ever. Katie smiled and nodded that it was, and I knew she meant for far greater reasons than anything happening on the field.

Blake was everyone’s hero when he belted a bases-loaded double off the top of the wall in left-center to win it for the Tribe, bringing more than 42,000 roaring fans to their feet. But I know who the real hero was on opening day, and she was sitting beside me. They could have just as easily been roaring for Katie.

The editor's e-mail bag

I get quite a bit of e-mail from our GIs in Iraq, and enjoy hearing from them. I got the following note from Sgt. Kyle L. Myers, who has finished his tour in Iraq with the Marines and is recovering from surgery in Okinawa. Attached to it was a copy of a certificate from the Department of the Navy explaining his Achievement Medal.