Friends (And Disc Golf and Baseball) As Therapy

Many thanks to those friends (online and off) who have expressed their support at the passing on my father this past Tuesday.

My brother and I will be traveling to my Dad's home in Florida next week to meet our step-family, and conduct a memorial service - ended on Sunday, Sept 30, with spreading his ashes at sea in a private ceremony. My Dad made this specific request long ago (including that we go fishing after his ashes are left behind), but quite frankly, I don't know if I'll be in the mood to fish. Instead, I'll probably spend my time sharing with my family members, and keeping an eye on the horizon for turtles and wild dolphins.

Oh, and disc golf...don't forget that. No, I won't be playing at sea. But I will be checking out a couple of Fort Myers-area courses. In saying this, I don't mean to sound cavalier; I just want to allow myself an emotional escape hatch from the heavy tone of the weekend.

A final note from The Field of Dreams: Yesterday, I purchased a customized brick from the Chicago Cubs to be placed on a walkway outside Wrigley Field this spring, alongside many others purchased by fans. The reason for this is to memorialize my Dad.

Let me explain: as a kid, he attended Lane Tech High School on Addison (not far from Wrigley itself) where he played a couple of years on the school baseball team - including one where his team went undefeated and won the state championship. After this game, Lane was invited to play in the Chicago Public League Championship, which in that year (1956, I think) was set at Wrigley Field versus Dunbar High. I'll spare you the gory box scores, but the bottom line was that Lane got whomped. And I mean badly. As in Dunbar made them their prison bitch on the diamond with a lot of aggressive play.

But honestly, I don't think the Lane players (including my Dad, who managed to hit a long pop fly to Wrigley's warning track) cared much about the loss. They were probably too tired, and wanting to go work on their cars, or make out with their girlfriends to do so.

But I digress....

On the memorial brick I ordered, the following will be engraved and set alongside Wrigley Field at the corner of Addison and Sheffield by Opening Day 2008:

George Varney
Lane Tech 1956
BB State Champs

I hope he likes it....I love you, Dad.