Boys of Summer Book - Aug. 6, 2004

The Boys of Summer roll along, but we need your help to complete this year's journey. Please see our site for the latest on how to contribute. Thank you!

August 6, 2004 - Dad

Las Vegas, NV

Dad with then Colorado Rockies Manager, Clint Hurdle
at a game at Coors Field, Aug. 5, 2004.

We are off to an early start for a full day of driving. It is a very picturesque trip that goes by very quickly. What a difference a good night’s sleep and day light driving makes. 

We arrive in Las Vegas late in the afternoon. Annamaria has prepared a welcoming dinner for us. After dinner we go out to see a few sights. Bob drops me off at a casino to do some gambling.  

Coors Field from above.

August 7, 2004 - Bob

Las Vegas, NV

What a trip being back here in Sin City. Seven weeks to the day from when we started. It was a LOOOONG trip from Denver, but the familiarity of the west, with the staggering heights of the Rocky Mountains, the scent of the thick green pine trees and the long, open-planed stretches of desert that I at one point in my life found quite distasteful, made for good travel partners.

Vegas looks and sounds the same as when I left it -- ah, there's a police siren just now.  

Being here, I feel relaxed. I have no doubt at this point we’re going to be able to finish the trip financially. That burden being lifted is like a two-ton gorilla gone buh-bye. The rapidly growing gorilla, however, is the one that represents my mom’s health and her refusal to pick up the phone. The fact that she’s not answering and not calling back means, very simply, that she’s in a depression. We know that much. Is she in danger? Experience says no. She has food. She has a safe home. She has friends checking in on her. If my dad was there, not much would change.

That’s the intellectual truth. 

Arriving home to Annamaria in Las Vegas.

The emotional truth has my dad wondering if there’s not something more he could be doing. My mom has been going through this for about 10 years. The length of her depressions has been increasing. She is getting treatment, and yet, the problem doesn’t seem to be getting better. It’s such a strange illness. My mom is about as outgoing and social of a woman as you could ever imagine. To label her “depressed” just doesn’t seem to fit. 

But it does. 

Depression is also a common condition for Parkinsonians. That’s one of the big concerns about mom’s health is that dad could “slide down” with her if he’s not careful. I’m very concerned about that -- at the same time doing my best to respect they’re adults (my parents for Pete’s sake) and have the right to make their own choices, even if I see something I think would be a better choice for them.

Is this what parenting is like?

Dad after a night on the town in Las Vegas.
He hit a royal flush as he's apt to do.

To the end of letting my dad be, I’ve honored his request to have some alone time in the casinos. He has a favorite not far from our apartment where he’s had some luck before (dad really is pretty lucky in the gambling department -- save for the one time he was $50 up at a blackjack table and got kicked out for counting cards). The gaming is, I think, so much mental calisthenics for my dad. It’s a release and he’s not (again, to my knowledge) betting crazy amounts. He has fun and forgets about life for a while. God love him. 

For me, my jackpot is being with my Bella again. She had the traditional “Welcome Home” sign up over the door when we arrived and a beautiful lasagna in the oven. What more could you ask for? I’m very glad she's coming to San Diego and Los Angeles with us this weekend as well.

The Boys of Summer roll along, but we need your help to complete this year's journey. Please see our site for the latest on how to contribute. Thank you!