Signage

Here I am in a random city, heading to a baseball game, just for the sake of seeing a stadium.  Yeah he would be into this.  And literally, just two or three blocks away, is this church.  He was definitely deeply defined and lived by his faith.  Before I was here, he was priest.....a very good priest by all accounts, and by some of the times I have seen him shine in his forms of ministry.  Although we didn't see eye-to-eye on the subject of religion, I always have had a deep respect for his faith, for his contribution, and for how I firmly believe it guided him to be the incredibly kind, decent, unselfish, all-loving person that he was.  Perhaps not literally, but figuratively, a Saint.

Bull and Finch

So I went to Boston.  He was a big fan of Cheers.  I was a huge fan of Cheers, because for some unknown reason I was allowed and encouraged to watch this show, which can still make me laugh out loud.  He and I would still talk about some of our favorite moments from Cheers, even up to and including some of his final years...we are talking 15 years later.  If I was with him, and a rerun came on, we considered it a gold mine.  One of his most memorable episodes was when Norm ended up carrying Evan Drake across his front yard in his pajamas.  This would crack him up anytime he saw Evan Drake (Tom Skerritt) in the many years to follow.  In turn, I cannot see him without thinking of my dad cracking up laughing.  It was just another thing that we bonded over....it was the simple things he included me in that made me feel so included.

Bounty Hunters

Whenever I would take a train trip, he would always advise me, in the most serious of voices..."you gotta be on the look out for bounty hunters and bandits."  I would always entertain this line of advice from him, and I would even discuss the possibility of a good ol' fashion murder-mystery while ridin the rails.  It's my first time on the train since he left, and I was consumed with thoughts of him, and what he would be saying to me on the phone....."have you looked everyone over real good?"  or  "the bandits can come up over the hills quickly with their horses" or "are there any suspicious looking folks on your train"....actually this would go on and on.  This was most true during my cross country train trip.  Every day we would go over all the questionable characters or goings-on.  He was so much fun.

Soundtrack of His Life (2)

So tonight, my friend and I were in an Irish bar with an Irish band.  I begged Verly to go ask them to play "Four Green Fields" and because she is far more courageous than me, she did it for me.  I didn't even have to tell her why I wanted them to play the song.  She walked up and said "Four Green Fields" and he just nodded his head and then played it two songs later.  It's on his "Soundtrack of His Life."  And I really believe that although it's about suffering of a totally different type, place, and time, that it must have resinated for him and his family's heritage.  It was hard hearing it live for the first time since he left me, but I am completely grateful for it, and I owe it to Verly.  

Rain Storms

Since I grew up in the near-in suburbs, I never "saw" rain like this....until he took me west.  I remember, like it was yesterday (I was 8 years old), driving through the flat, wide open plain states, with not a tree in sight.  Off in the distance, I would see these huge blots of gray and he explained that was rain falling.  I was amazed by that....because my experience with rain was just that it falls on top of you!  And so whenever I can "see" rain storms I think of that trip, back to his "homeland."  It definitely became one of my favorite sights.  This was a storm that I spotted from DC, that was clearly falling across the river, in Virginia.    

Videotape

Since I heard this song for the first time live, I fell in love with it.  But now I listen to it about once a day because it is so poignant both musically and lyrically.   Several of the lyrics pull at me every time I listen.  One specific lyric "today has been the most perfect day I've ever seen...."  He said something similar to me the day before I believe he started his slow slip away.  I let him in the car, came around and sat behind the drivers seat, he leaned over a little bit and told me "that was the best Redskins game I have ever seen."  It was a very good game, but that description has always stuck with me, because it seemed slightly over the top since he had seen a lot of great Skins games.  But I think I understand now.

Here it is, Radiohead Live

Two Magnificent Fathers

I spent the morning of this first Father's Day without him by going to visit his parent's resting spot.  I brought some of my dad with me, and left some of him behind, resting him in between his mother and father.  That's him there, in the shamrock box.  I think that is a statue of Mary, watching over him.  In my soul, I hope that their reunion, of sorts, brings more peace to their after-life.  A shout out to my Grandma that is resting just to the left of my Granddaddy.

When His Pappy brought him East in '41

They came east for a job here, at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, that is named the "Norfolk Navy Yard."  He was 10 years old when he came east, for his family to escape the severe effects of the Great Depression in South Dakota, where there was no work for his dad.  Although his core was mostly formed by his time out on the Great Plains, it's nice to be here around his teenage stomping grounds.

Enter.....Portsmouth

When he was brought east by his dad, they moved to Portsmouth, VA.  This is where I would spend many happy days with my Granddaddy and Grandma at their home here.  The last time I drove through here, was 2004.  I was traveling nearby for work and decided to drive through Portsmouth for a brief drive-by of my Granddaddy's old house.  I called my dad for help finding the right turns.  He asked me where I was, I told him, and without missing a beat (and despite him not being in Portsmouth for like 20 years) he says, "You are going to come around a curve, and then you will see a restaurant with a chicken on it's roof."  I go, "Dad, what??"  He says "you'll see."  I come around the curve, and sure enough there it is, a chicken on top of a restaurant.  

Soundtrack of His Life (1)

It is probably a little bit overstated to say that the song "Charade" is a part of his soundtrack from his life.  But he put together a list of songs that was made into a CD of all his favorites that span a very long period of time.....big bands to the Beatles to Billie Holiday.  This movie Charade has a song from the movie, aptly named "Charade" that he had on 'his cd.'  This old movie poster is in my building, on the street level......I walked past this 4 times before, until I noticed it today. It amazes every time I turn and see something that reminds me of him, how it's just right there.  I must rent this movie immediately.   

History

He was a true lover of history, and he also loved politics.  He grew to really believe in Obama, although I never heard him say, without a doubt, that he would vote for him....but he sure was leaning that way.  I just wished he had been here as the votes started coming in during this remarkable primary.  I know he loved how much I have been moved and inspired by Obama.  And I know that tonight he would be on the phone with me discussing how beautiful this night is, for him, for me, for Obama, for Ann Durham.  I hope they are both watching this.....

Murder

Murder, She Wrote.  He really was a big fan.  He and I would sit and watch these episodes back in the day on Sunday nights.  We would try to solve the murder mysteries that seemed to follow Jessica Fletcher around.  She really was a murder magnet.....anyway, we would both concentrate, and every once in awhile we would claim to know who "did it."  I was rarely right. He was frequently fooled too.  Damn MSW writers!  This is her solving the mystery of her good ol' friend's murder of a hit man.  If he were here, we would be cracking up that Jessica Fletcher was dear friends with this guy, Gambini.