July 16, 2004 - Bob
Pittsburgh, PA
Mom left yesterday morning -- I know it was hard for her and Dad. She seems to be doing well and I'm so proud of the way she's fought back from her seemingly never-ending illnesses. Through it all, her spirits are strong today and I admire that.
The group (and focus) changes greatly with the departures of mom and soon of Annamaria. Not that I want them to go. At the same time, the focus is different with the ladies here. It’s nice to get back to focussing on me and dad and baseball. I have lots of phone calls to make. Lots of plans to go forth with. The difficult thing is getting enough time and focussing enough attention on that time to make something special happen.
I have a good feeling about Kansas City. I really want more of these events to come off and be special like the one in Philadelphia and Phoenix. Maybe we just need to go to more cities that begin with the letter “P”. Hey -- Pittsburgh’s coming up!
I know I don’t have the wherewithal, myself, to make it go as I see it in my mind. I’ve learned it takes a village. I’m trying to be easy about things. Let’s be honest: We’ve got $3,000 at this point. If we budget $150 a day, (food, gas and expenses -- $75 gas, $30 room, $45 food) that gives us 20 days. We have 33 days to go. There will be other expenses, too -- Tape stock (at least $150).
When I look at it in those terms, I realize we’re much further along than I had worried about. I know we’re going to need to have a few more successful fundraisers, but we’re “in the ballpark.” We’re going to do quite well in KC, hopefully in MN, too. There’s got to be some Parkinson’s groups I can motivate in Chicago an St. Louis...
It’s a joy listening to dad singing and enjoying John Lennon. Beautiful simplicity.
Sincerity is a great risk. People are so willing and wanting to be cynical and it is so rewarded (by laughter and approval) that it becomes a very risky thing to expose one’s true thoughts of self.
The cynical comic lives a life of structural pain, because if he lets down his cynicism, he’s lost his edge and, therefore, his approval. I walked these steps when I lived in L.A. many moons ago.
While listening to John Lennon’s “Beautiful Boy”, dad reaches over, grabs my shoulder, smiles at me and says, “That’s it”.
Baseball is a backdrop. It barely matters. The people are what matter.
Baseball is the point. When there is greatness on the field, hope and possibility are illuminated.
The parks don’t matter. It is the people and the way they treat the people that matter.
New parks that haven’t found their soul: So much concrete and design, flash and dash to what end?
The parks are essential. They hold the history and memory we pass down from one generation to the next.
Those with the history built in: harmonious with their communities, relevant, real...
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