When I was ten years old, I joined a Little League sponsored by my parish church in the Dorchester section of Boston. I had no idea what position I wanted to play when I was asked so the Manager put me in the outfield. We began the first practice with him hitting fly balls to us in the outfield. I couldn't catch anything and the twelve year olds started ragging on me. I was so embarrassed that I threw my glove on the ground and ran off the field and all the way home. 

Later that day the Manager of the team showed up at my house with my glove. My Mom invited him in and we all sat in the kitchen and talked about my playing baseball on his team. He never said anything (in front of me) about what happened at the field that day but my Mom decided to walk me to the park on the next scheduled practice. She did it a few more times after that and even attended my first Little League game. It was the only baseball game she ever saw me play; and I played on at least two teams every year until I graduated from High School. 

That story is what came to my mind when my sister called to tell me that Mom had passed away around 8 o'clock this evening. She was 28 days short of her 96th birthday and up until about 2 months ago, was still a funny, intelligent and vital person. It was about that time that her illness started to take control of her mind and she started slipping quickly. 

I was visiting with her during September of 2004 and was shocked when she asked me to put the Red Sox game on the TV. She didn't really have a clue as to what went on during a baseball game but she was excited about how happy her family and her friends were because the Sox were doing so well. She became a fan for that season anyway and developed a little interest again in 2007. 

I lost my oldest friend tonight. I knew it was coming and thought I was prepared for the end but discovered that I wasn't quite as prepared as I thought. I could put down an easy 2,000 more words telling you what a wonderful person she was and how much I already miss her, but this short blog will have to do. 

I thank all who read this for indulging me.