She’s here.

On Friday morning at 6:19 AM, I became a Dad. She is a wonderful, healthy amazing little girl, and I am humbled and amazed by her. My wife went through pain that I can’t fathom and generally kept an astoundingly good attitude. I definitely married up, and am very much glad I did.

And I’m really sleepy and a complete emotional train wreck. Is there some kind of postpartum father’s thing? If not, some day sleep deprived, confused, weepy Dads everywhere may have Cox Disease.

It’s been great to experience the support and love of friends and family. It takes a village, and it probably takes a country when I’m the Dad, but know it is appreciated, folks. If you’re a facebook friend, I will have pictures up shortly. Crying baby has pretty much occupied the 26 or so hours since we’ve been home. Just wanted to pass the news along for those who might not have known. Thanks for your support, friendship, readership, and prayers. Don’t stop any of them; particularly the last.

All the Best,

Joe

A goodbye

I generally keep this blog very light. I like to tell funny stories, or talk about books or movies, or share restaurant tips or memories. Unfortunately, sometimes the real world interferes.

Lindsey McCoy passed away on Saturday. Lindsey was 25 years old. She was the sister of Dustin McCoy, a good friend of mine over the years. She was beautiful and vibrant and funny and so alive. I feel very much unequal to the task of trying to paint any kind of picture for anybody who didn’t know her. She was a very special young woman, and she beat cystic fibrosis for 25 years. I never even knew she had it.

It has been a very bittersweet last few days. My daughter is actually due today, and should be born anytime. I suppose it is only natural that the circle of human life takes away when it gives. I believe that God has a plan for all of us, and that when that plan seems uncertain or incomprehensible, we have to believe even more. I think of the worlds of a near death Johnny Cash, who when asked if he entertained religious doubt after his beloved wife’s death, said simply, “My arms are too short to box with God.” I think of the little girl I haven’t met yet, and how I hope and pray for her health and safety and happiness, and how I have to acknowledge that I can’t assure her of any of those things.

Life can be perilous and short. I hope that I, and you, and my unborn daughter, can find the strength and the faith to live our own lives in the shadow of our weaknesses and frailties as well as Lindsey McCoy did. It’s a great task, but I hope we can do it.

Joe

Book #28- The Only Game in Town

The Only Game in Town is an oral history of 1930s-1940s baseball, edited by former commissioner Fay Vincent. The book talks with around a dozen players– some great, the other good, about their reminiscences of major league baseball. The high point of the book is unquestionably the chapter about Buck O’Neil. O’Neil, who sadly passed away recently, was a great American. An African-American, deprived of the chance to ever play major league baseball, Buck O’Neil instead spent his life as the great ambassador of the Negro Leagues. He was, as they say, strong enough not to hate. Instead, he was a delight– funny, poignant, always worth listening to, whether on Ken Burns’s excellent “Baseball” series or in this book.

The other players have some good stories as well. Bob Feller talks about his World War II experiences, Dom DiMaggio speaks about living in the shadow of his brother, Joe, and generally, everybody has a Ted Williams story or three.

If you’re a baseball fan, it’s a nice read. If you’re not, search of Buck O’Neil’s autobiography or Joe Posnanski’s “The Soul of Baseball”, a story of his year traveling with and chronicling an aging O’Neil. Those are worth reading for anybody and everybody. It’s beecause they are stories about adversity and life, and baseball sometimes just happens to pop up. On the other hand, this book is mostly about baseball.