Thoughts and Musings

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Joe and I went to the Red Sox/Yankees game tonight at Fenway. We sat 5 rows behind the enemy's...er, I mean the Yankees, dugout. The best thing about that was that I got to see Joe Torre up close and personal. I love Joe Torre. He's like the giant teddy bear of baseball. Though I have noticed that he rarely smiles. His team could have just won the biggest game of their lives, and to get Joe to crack a smile, well... Anyway, I think he's a teddy bear, and I was happy to be so close, even if he IS a Yankee!

I'm not going to say that Joe and I were in the minority as Red Sox fans sitting where we were, but we were sure surrounded by some rather...zealous...Yanks fans. This was a bit disconcerting at first. But, what fun. They were a good group, and we partook in some playful bantering back and forth. And when the Sox succeeded in SPANKING the Yankees in the end, their fans took it with a modicum of grace.

During the seventh-inning stretch, Wally stood 10 feet in front of us, on top of the Yanks dugout, and tossed baseballs into the crowd. That's the pic you see above. But the coolest moment came early in the game: At some point during the first inning, someone (I forget who) smacked a hard foul right at us. The ball came speeding toward the head of an unsuspecting 5-year-old, whose quick-thinking father dove in front of her to avert what could have been a disaster. The ball bounced off his body and into the hands of one of those Yankees fans. The man turned and handed the ball to grinning tot and the stadium erupted. True sportsmanship. Bravo, sir, you know what the game is all about.

When Bad Things Happen

A bad thing happened last week. Bad things happen all the time, every night. But this particular bad thing hit a bit closer to home than most bad things. A boy...well, a man now, but he was a boy when I knew him...who used to live across the street from me was in a violent car accident that left 2 teenage girls dead and Adam, that's the boy's name, Adam, critically injured. Adam was, I don't know, maybe 5 when I moved into the house across the street from his some 15 years ago. I would, on occasion, babysit he and his younger sister. I didn't know the family particularly well, and as Adam grew older and I moved from that neighborhood I basically lost touch with them. We would run into each other from time to time and his mother is close enough to my family that she came to my wedding a couple of months ago. But basically he was just a boy I sometimes cared for and watched grow from child to teen.

I don't know much about Adam's life. I know he finished school and still lived at home. I know he sometimes ran with a fast crowd...but what teenager doesn't. I know his mother loves him very much and she always struck me as a caring and nurturing parent. And I know that he is now fighting for his life at Boston Medical Center.

Adam was in a car with 5 other people. The driver, a 19-year-old kid, was speeding and goofing off. They were coming from a party and were on a "beer run." The driver lost control and careened into several large objects at a cemetary. The back of the car seems to have taken the most impact. Adam was in the back with the 2 girsl who died. On impact, Adam and one of the girls smashed heads. I think what caused the worst of Adam's injuries was the cement pillar that came crashing through the roof onto his head after the second impact. He sustained the type of severe head injury that you often read about in the obituaries. But Adam survived. By the grace of God, he's still alive.

Machines are helping Adam breathe. Tubes are providing him the nourishment he needs to survive. And medication is keeping him from going insane with the pain his mangled body is in. No one knows for sure what, if anything, is going through Adam's mind. It has been touch and go for the last week. He has not regained consciousness, and his lungs have filled with fluid. And here's the latest: the swelling in Adam's brain was severe enough to cause him to blow a pupil. After being rushed into surgery, his physicians discovered that the left side of Adam's brain was virtual mush. So, they removed a good portion of Adam's left frontal lobe. So horrifying is this prospect, that I have chills just writing about it. The frontal lobe is like the mainframe of the mind. So much of who we are comes from that portion of the brain. What will Adam be like when, if, he comes back to us? Will he be Adam? Will he be some shadow of his former self? Will he have regressed back to a time when even basic daily care was entrusted to someone else, someone who had his best interest at heart, always? Will he be mobile? Will he be verbal? Will he be alive, and not merely exist? There are a lot of unknowns, indeed. All we can do know is pray and keep Adam and his family in our hearts. So if you believe in any kind of higher power, say one for Adam tonight. I believe he needs all the help he can get right now.

Cove Haven Heaven

Oh my God, I want to live at the resort Joe and I stayed at in the Pokonos for our honeymoon! This place rocked. The first thing you saw when you walked into our suite, which was a 4-level suite, was this huge 7-foot tall champagne glass whirlpool. Above it was a celestial glass ceiling and when you used the right amount of bubble bath in the whirlpool (which we finally got right after a little experimentation), it took on the look of an actual glass of bubbling champagne. So cool.

So, from the living room, you walked down a couple of stairs and through a set of glass doors into a glass-enclosed private heart-shaped swimming pool. Down a few more stairs into a dry sauna. Then back up through the living room and up a few more stairs into the bedroom, with requisite king-size round bed and complete with a gorgeous celestial ceiling. There was a fireplace in the living room, and though it was the end of July and like 90 degrees out, we did indeed utilize any and all amenities, including said fireplace!

Cove Haven was indeed heaven. There were daily activities and nightly entertainment, and we met some truly lovely people during our stay. As honeymooners, we were asked to wear our official Cove Haven “honeymoon” pins whenever we left our rooms. These pins clearly identified us as honeymooners and we were met with congratulations and best wishes by staff and guests wherever we went. On our second night there we attended a special honeymooners dinner where we sat with three other newly wed couples. Ironically, one couple was from Randolph, a town very near our own in Massachusetts. There was one couple in particular that we became quite fond of after hearing their story. They had actually been married for like 9 months, but as he was overseas serving his country, this was the first time they had together to get away for their honeymoon. It was quite touching.

One of the coolest aspects of our trip was the drive there and back. Being locked in a car with another human being for 5 hours can either be truly rewarding or sheer torture. For us it was bliss. We packed up a cooler, put some mutually agreed upon tunes on the radio and away we went. I spent a fair amount of time with my head out the widow taking pictures of things we just thought looked cool. On our way home we came across this church that was just hauntingly…beautiful’s not the right word…maybe, captivating? It was in a bit of a remote area, and more than a little eerie, but it really was breathtaking. It was the kind of place you’d see in a movie. It would be either the opening shot or the closing one, a powerful image that left a lasting impression with most movie-goers. We took a few pictures of the church and of a rather gothic looking statue to the left and behind the main building.

Just call me Mrs. R...

Well, we did it. We showed up at the church, we professed our love in front of our friends and family, and we made it legal. We are now officially Mr. and Mrs. Joseph R.

How COOL is that?? What an amazing journey it's been to get from there to here. And through it all, through the insanity of planning a wedding and the insanity of buying a house and the insanity of gutting and basically rebuilding said house and the insanity of everyday life, Joe and I only became stronger and more confident in our love for each other. Does that rock, or what? Wana see some cool wedding pics? Just click here.

The whole day is a bit of a blur to me. It seems like you put all your energy into planning the thing and then the big day comes, you're thrown into this vortex of emotion, and before you know it the day is over and you haven't even made it around to half the tables to hug everyone who was there to support you on the most important day of your life. Hmm. Maybe it's just me. Anyway, the day started with Alana and I waking up somewhere around 8:30, grabbing some breakfast, heading over to the hairdressers so she could work her magic, then back to the house to meet with the make-up lady who then worked her magic. Then it was hurry up and wait. We talked, we laughed, we watched the Red Sox, and we bonded. The limo guy showed up early, as did the photog. I wasn't even dressed yet, so I did what every red-blooded, baseball-loving, soon-to-be bride would do...I invited them in to watch the game while I got ready. They hesitated at first, likely not wanting to seem unprofessional, but once we convinced them that they should come in they grew more comfortable. And as the Red Sox continued to SPANK the New York Yankees, their initial hesitation melted away and they could be heard from every room in the house cheering on our beloved Sox! The Sox ended up killing the Yanks...so that was a hell of a good way to start my wedding day!

The girls all arrived at the house by 4:00, and we were off and running by 4:45. The ceremony got started a bit late...the result of a slight miscommunication between the soloist (who was supposed to sing Ave Marie for the seating of my grandparents, but who wasn't informed that they were already at the church) and my grandparents (who were waiting patiently for Ave Maria to begin so they could be seated). We were waiting in a back room, trying not to die in the heat of the afternoon, and poor Joe was apparently wringing his hands at the front of the church wondering if I'd changed my mind! Poor Joe. But alas, my grandparents were seated and the ceremony began.

Pastor Ken did an amazing job. He made the day absolutely perfect for us. He's been my pastor for 17 years, so he made it personal and gave a very moving sermon. And I saw pure joy in his eyes when he pronounced us husband and wife in the eyes of God and man. It meant the world to me to have him marry us. His family has been like a second family to me for so long. Having them all there made the day that much more special.

The ceremony was beautiful. I think it's the only pat of the day I remember with any real clarity. For me the service went in slow motion, and I remember every detail. Everything went off without a hitch...with the possible of exception of some burning flesh thanks to dripping wax from the unity candles that had simply been lit for far too long. But other than that, it really was perfect!

After the service, it was party time. Fortunately I had seen just about everybody as they came through the receiving line after the service, because the reception went by SO quickly that I barely remember getting a chance to hug and thank my own family, let alone all of our friends who had gathered for our special day. But I have pictures to prove we were there! And apparently we danced, cut the cake, and enjoyed some general mingling before the night was over.

And at the end of the night we were to be whisked away by limo to a hotel in Boston where we would spend 2 nights before heading off on our honeymoon. So we went out front and waited...and waited...and waited. Seems the limo forgot the bride and groom! We had a good laugh about that, finally got them on the phone, and were indeed whisked away for the first night of our new life.