TPM,
Thanks for starting this topic. I am reading every word of the posts by our websters and - IMO - every story is so enjoyable and interesting.
My dad was from a family of 11 - with about half born in Italy - and the rest born in the USA. The entire family lived in the Bronx - as did my Mom's famliy - who lived directly across the street.
My mom's brother and my dad were best friends growing up. All of them didnt have much of anything except themselves. Just dirt poor.
Dad left high school after his junior year and signed with the Detroit Tigers. My uncle - finished high school and signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates. 2 years later - they were both in the military - Dad in the Army and Uncle in the Navy.
After their service - Dad went back to baseball for a few years - and Uncle didnt - he got a job with IBM as a draftman - and worked for them for the next 35 years.
Dad left baseball 2 years after that. Got married and started a family. Still in the same neighborhood in the Bronx. Shortly after they had me - dad got spinal meningitis - and we had to live with my grandparents for about a year. They even quarantined the apartment we lived in. Fortunately - he survived that.
In the early 1960's - we moved out of the Bronx to Rockland County. It was a big deal moving away from the family - the family treated it as if we were moving to another planet - when really we were just moving about 30 miles away to have a better life.
Dad worked 2 hard jobs for almost 30 years - as did my mom. So I didnt get to see them as much as I would have liked. But they always found the time to make family life enjoyable. They were both very proud when I got a college degree - first kid in the entire family (and there were alot of us) to do so. My first job was with IBM - and my mom and uncle just loved that - as it was his first job also. I got a graduate business degree from NYU - and once again they were beaming.
The centerpiece of all of our lives was baseball - and still is. That is where and how we spent most of our free time - including my mom.
When my eldest got drafted this past year - my mom and dad didnt stop talking for about 2 months. They went to see him several times this past summer when he played in Brooklyn and Staten Island - and every time - just beaming.
As if God wanted to make something special happen for them - the highlight was the last game of the league championship in Brooklyn. They had front row seats over my son's team dugout - and he hit a game clinching home run - and as he rounded third base - he was looking directly at them - gave them a thumbs up. My parents were beside themselves for a month. They would call every couple days and retell the story - and start crying.
They always stuck by us - through the good and the bad - and instilled in us the "never say die" attitude. We in turn have done the same for our kids. We have always tried to make them proud by our actions - on the field and off the field.
I am glad they are still with us - and feel blessed that God gave us the good fortune of being together for so long.