In batting practice, Phillies pitcher Jerome Williams sometimes wears a purple glove for pancreatic cancer, a blue one for prostate cancer, a gold one for childhood cancers or a green one for liver cancer.
But it's the pink one that's dearest to his heart and the only one he uses in games. Inside that glove, he can feel the stitched letters of his mother's name on the padding where his left palm rests.
Williams brought it with him from the minor leagues four years ago, a reminder of the past.
He won't be pitching on Mother's Day, but when he returns to the mound Monday, the glove will be with him, along with the enduring love it has come to symbolize.