25 Things

There's this interesting fad floating about within the world of Facebook that has people writing 25 random thoughts about one's self. Although I've always stayed away from those questions that ask what your favorite color is and when are you happiest, I think this exercise intriguing. And thus, I shall attempt it...

1. I once tried to memorize John Milton's Paradise Lost. I made it to 'So spake the apostate angel, though in pain'.
2. I sang Your Song by Elton John to Joseph from my grandparent's basement before I had ever met him in person.
3. I actively partook in numismatics before I ventured to Seattle. And my prized possessions were a good condition 1909 VDB Lincoln cent, and a fair condition 1832 British haypenny found at the Redwood Flea Market in Yalesville, CT.
4. If you ask me my favorite author and book, I would hesitate because there are so many good authors and so many more good books. Because many of the good authors have written multiple books, of course. But then if I were cornered, I'd answer Hermann Hesse and his book, Narcissus and Goldmund.
5. My idea of cooking: Pour cereal into bowl. Pour milk over cereal. Use spoon to deliver cereal and milk to mouth. Repeat final step until all milk and cereal are gone.
6. I once wrote a 17-page paper describing a 7-Up can. And got a C-.
7. I fit 7 large football players into a silver 1984 Toyota Celica GT Hatchback - called at times the Silver Bullet and Jethro - coming home from football practice one day. I later found out my brother managed nine large football players.
8. In my lifetime, there have been 2 Democrats elected to the presidency. For each of their initial wins (Clinton in '92 and Obama '08), I was just outside Orlando, FL. Those were the only 2 times in my lifetime I've ever been just outside Orlando, FL.
9. When in Rome, I and the other seminarians of the archdiocese of Hartford decided to compose a letter to Pope John Paul II asking for a private audience with him. Because of my handwriting, I was elected to write the letter. We passed it to a Swiss guard and waited for a response. None came. But we later discovered that the Pope reviewed every piece of correspondence that was addressed to him, meaning that he read words I wrote.
10. I miss my paternal grandfather calling me Yardbird and I miss talking to my paternal grandmother across her kitchen table.
11. I miss playing cribbage marathons of 10 or more consecutive games with my maternal grandfather and I miss hearing my maternal grandmother hum Lara's theme while I rested on the front couch.
12. I will always remember the day I walked out of my brother's garage and watched the old man's jaw drop as we initiated our last trek to Yankee Stadium. The old man and his two boys.
13. I will also remember the day Uncle Mark and his girlfriend Ruth brought us to Fairly Ridiculous University (Farleigh Dickinson) to watch the Giants training camp. And getting Mark Bavaro's autograph.
14. I vowed I would never pray for another game after Super Bowl XXV. I didn't. Until Super Bowl XLIII.
15. Fudge Swirl. Whipped Cream. Hershey's Syrup. Splash of milk. 'Nuff said.
16. I would be happy if I could have my mother's Christmas cookies every day of the year. Especially those peanut butter cookies with the Hershey's kiss in the middle of them.
17. Give me an English word - any English word - and ask me its origin. Then don't talk to me for the next 15 minutes because I'm off trying to find out its etymology following it back through French, Latin, Greek, and finally to its Indo-European root.
18. When I was about 2 I used to sit outside in the dog house with my Boxer, Clancy.
19. My favorite class in college had to be the History of Calculus in which I learned that the coordinate system should be Fermatian and not Cartesian, that Leibniz and Newton quarreled over who invented the calculus, and that it is impossible to square a circle since pi is a transcendental and not an algebraic irrational number.
20. And my second favorite class in college was the Intellectual History of the U.S. from 1865-present in which I wrote a 40 page paper on the importance of Playboy for the masculinization of men between 1955-1970. The university had every volume except for the initial. So, no I didn't see Marilyn in the nude.
21. The vice principal at my high school was named David; he wasn't particularly well liked. Most everyone mocked him with the name, Davey Dawg. When he caught on, they reduced calling him Davey Dawg to the times when I was in the general vicinity. And the name stuck. Through high school only, thank God.
22. When I pull out my wallet, there is a circled imprint on its back that people think is caused by a condom. It's in fact a rosary ring blessed by Pope John Paul II.
23. I was once able to repeat to a customer, 'You'd like the Kookaburra Wings, Grilled Shrimp on the Barbie, Walkabout Soup, Rockhampton Ribeye, and the Drover's Platter. With a Wallaby Darned and a Foster's. G'day Mate!'
24. The old man is hands down the best coach I've ever had.
25. I've been called a cold fish, at times, because I'm not altogether emotional. But never doubt that I care for and love my friends and family more than they can know.
    

Florida Day Two

I sit in a chair in my hotel room wondering how to write this entry. I could choose to be less than honest and tell you that today went swimmingly. Instead, I'll compose some of what these two eyes witnessed.

I awoke with a headache at 7 a.m. Just 5 hours after I had finally fallen asleep. I marched to the curtains and pulled them shut, putting an end to the light that shone through. I slept a bit longer and arose at 9. A crick in the neck from the puffy pillows. Nevertheless it was time.

I received a call at approximately 9:15. My mother. They would arrive at about 11:30. Enough time for me to work out a bit and have some breakfast.

When 11:30 rolled around, I descended through the bowels of the hotel and walked into the lobby. There sat Dave and Mom. Dave had the look of Uncle Dennis, at first glance, with a row of pristine teeth. Mom looked altogether too pale and out of sorts. An odd look for a woman who had - as recently as two years prior when I saw her last - been a more energized woman.

We walked over to an Asian restaurant and ate lunch together. Dave asked me a bunch of questions. Getting to know me. Mom, meanwhile, sat in virtual silence seemingly staring into the ether. Dave sipped his gina and tonic. I swallowed my iced tea - unsweetened - in gulps.

I watched mom. Wondering what to say or how to say it. Feeling an odd sensation in my gut. How could this happen in a matter of two years?

After the meal, they decided to treat me to a day at one of the Disney parks. I chose Hollywood - formerly known as MGM. Rides are better, Dave said.

We drove down I-4. Dave made the comment that I and my mother didn't have much to say to each other. And, I suppose we didn't. But our conversation has never been a forced sort of thing. It just happens when it happens.

I asked her if she was baking cakes or playing the guitar. No to both. Just very tired. All the time.

We arrived at the park and we started through. Mom couldn't keep up. As she said, she was walking half speed. Pale as ever. Unsteady.

Doesn't the doctor have any clue, I asked her multiple times? No, not really, came her response. What is it then? What could this be?

I continued to watch and wonder. Having little to say. Wondering if there was something I could do. As she was dragged around the park from ride to ride.

The rides? Good as far as they went. The House of Horror, belly bottomed out. The Star Wars ride. Silly. The Aerosmith Roller Coaster. Closed my eyes through most of it. Almost lost my lunch within the first 20 seconds. The newest ride - some Toy Story themed activity - broke down as we were approaching - after an hour. Wouldn't be Disney without something breaking.

We left the park, and I felt awkward. Strange. Not right. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing my mother for the first time in a couple years. But, at the same time, I just wonder where my mother has gone. And if she can come back.

We drove home listening to All Things Considered on NPR. About how a third of the cruise ships can't actually dock in the new terminal set up for them in Shanghai. About the Tao te Ching. About the election over and over and over and over. I am in Florida after all.

When finally we arrived back at the hotel, I gave Dave a firm handshake and my mother a hug. I didn't turn back as I walked through the sliding doors.

I readied for dinner with some of my company's top level executives. Ironically, went to the same restaurant my mother, Dave and I had visited earlier. I listened as they spoke about the business. Names flew like rabid vultures. I sat and listened.

Now I'm back in the room. Watching Monday Night Football this late for the first time in a long time. Typing this blog entry on the eve of the election.

Time for bed.

Say a prayer for my mother. And for this country.