It’s been nearly 30 years, but I remember the day as if it was yesterday.

My son, Matthew, then 6 years old, was joining me for a high school baseball playoff game at the stadium now known as Diethrick Park.

Armed with burgers, french fries and a couple of soft drinks, we climbed the stairs to the roof, walked into the press box and found a vacant booth where we could enjoy our dinner before getting ready for the game.

Before I could sit down, Matthew climbed up on a chair, stared out at the immaculate field, the blue sky and Jamestown Community College behind the centerfield fence, looked up at me and said, “Dad, the view from up here is simply breathtaking.”

I’ve never forgotten that statement, but not for the reasons you might expect. While the opportunities to cover sports of all sorts for the last four decades has been very rewarding, it’s not always the home runs, touchdowns and championships that are the most meaningful.

Take, for example, what happened at Southwestern Central School last Saturday morning. To honor the memory of alumnus and Celoron native Amy King, the Lady Trojans’ cross country team — along with her family and friends — held a tree dedication ceremony. The event was held near the dome entrance of the high school by the memorial rock named in Amy’s honor. A member of Southwestern’s cross country, and track and field teams in the late 1980s, Amy, a flight attendant, lost her life in the attack on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Nearly 18 years after that horrible day, Amy’s legacy is still very much alive.

“(Now-retired Southwestern cross country coach) Tom Priester told me the story about how (the runners) used to come over and touch the rock before meets and before practice,” said Cristin Hockenberry, who is now the girls coach at the school.

In September 2017, Hockenberry brought that tradition back.

“Before every practice, they jog over and it’s their ‘Amy team time’ where they just get to be together without their coach,” she said. “They can laugh, cry, vent about their day and just be together before we get down to work.”

In other words, the tradition that began with Priester years ago and continues with the current cross country team, has nothing to do with wins, Section VI championships or trips to the state meet. It’s more important than all that.

“I sat down with Coach Priester and he shared pictures with me and stories … and everything is always the same,” Hockenberry said. “It’s about (Amy’s) smile, her spirit. Coach Priester said she was the heartbeat of the team. That was something I wanted to use to help our team and teach our girls what it means to be a teammate. To have that heartbeat.

“That’s what Amy’s spirit encompasses. It shows us that as long as you’re there together, it’s going to be OK.”

Among the speakers at the tree dedication was Amy’s sister, Kellie King-Work, who later described her sister as “just a kind person.”

“She wasn’t a super runner. She didn’t have a lot of wins,” Kellie said. “She did it because she loved it. She liked the team and loved her friends.”

At the conclusion of the ceremony, a vocal recording by Southwestern alum Jackson Rohm was played.

The title of the song?

“To Amy, With Love.”

“Honestly, what I was thinking while I was standing there (was) that for almost 18 years now I have been (thinking), ‘Why did this happen?’ Kellie said in reference to her sister’s tragic death. “She didn’t get a chance to have her own family, didn’t have a chance to have her kids. You know, people always say things happen for a reason. That’s the last thing you want to hear, (but) maybe this is the reason.”

As she spoke, Kellie looked around at the friends and family gathered to honor Amy’s memory and then continued.

“Especially the way the world is right now and (being) so divided, maybe this is the reason it had to be her, so that we can honor her and inspire kids to be kinder and gentler souls.”

On a brilliantly sunny, but cool, May morning without a cloud in the royal blue sky, the view from just outside Amy’s alma mater was breathtaking indeed.