Shagging Flies

           

Friendship Series

When life is good and bad God is there. He may be there in the the form of an answered prayer or in the healing of a sick child. Sometimes he is there in the form of a friend. When life hands you a burdened it is always easier when there are two heads, two hearts and four hands working to solve the problem. I found that kind of friend in a person that came into my life many years ago. He has become a part of" My Journey" and tonight, Pat Griswold and I share our journey of over 40 years as friends.

Pat

 So our friendship begins the year I started attending Jamestown Elementary School in 1977. We didn't hang out in the same circles or do the same activities. Ron was more of the intellectual, educational, traveling around the country meeting people type of high school student where I was the skinny kid who loved playing basketball at lunch and eventually started playing soccer. Our friendship grew stronger when I came home from the Air Force. One memory that sticks in both of our minds is a time that we had outside of a Chevron gas station. We could find any situation and make it a laughing moment. Even the stupidest stuff. 

Pat is a little older and his memory is slipping so let me catch you up. :) When Pat came to Jamestown we played some sports together after school and many times we would shoot hopes at recess. As we grew older we formed a friendship that would become stronger especially after Pat joined the military. To this day I am so proud to say that my buddy served his country and wore the red, white and blue with dignity.

Pat

Ron became one of those friends that you knew you could call on, you knew you could rely on him in a pinch and he would always have your back. We played softball together, he was our pitcher and I played infield. We had a lot of fun and eventually won a league title.  He loves baseball so it transferred over to softball, he was very intense. 

The beauty of our friendship is it grew on and off the field. I was on a journey in life that hit some snags and Pat was there to encourage me. When life was good we celebrated and when it was rough we carried each other. The bible says:

Ecclesiastes 4:9 

Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed.

This is how our friendship worked. When his mom passed I walked with him as we laid her to rest. When a really special person in my life passed away Pat was there to shed tears with me. Yes men cry when life hurts and Pat and I have had our share of tears. Many of sadness and many of joy.

Pat

 In March 1991, I had a wondrous thing happen. I became a father for the first time and from that moment on he and Krishna became Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Kris. Ron and I had become brothers. I have 4 sisters, he was the closet thing to being a brother I had.  I was raising my young daughter on my own and Uncle Ronnie & Aunt Kris offered to take her to Disneyland with them and their family (I still don't have pics of that trip by the way). I knew she was in good hands. 

Hi Dad!

We would continue to be family over the next few years and when I met my future bride Nicole, there was only one person that ever came to mind to ask to be my best man, my younger brother Ron (he always makes fun of me for being older even though he always had a hard time remembering when my birthday was). I never forget when his was (Aug 18). I had it easy though because it was the same as one of my nieces. So on that day in April 1998, Ron stood by me as I married the love of my life. The two children that I accepted as my own would soon learn to call him Uncle Ronnie and her Aunt Kris and to this day they are still called that. 

When I met Krishna I called Pat right away and told him I was in love. Immediately, Kris and Pat hit it off. Of course they did as he has a wonderful laugh and sense of humor and is easy to love. When I gave my heart away Pat was there by my side in the wedding to witness me saying "I Do".  As we added kids Pat was there. When he met Nicole we rejoiced because a friend like Pat deserved the same love in life that Kris and I had with each other. Nicole completed him.

Pat

 In May 1999, in the middle of the night, Ron came through again and volunteered to come pick up the kids when Nicole went into labor. He brought them to the birth center after their little brother was born. Ron was one of the first to see his new "nephew".  That child learned as the others did who Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Kris were. Our 2 families became those families that may not spend a lot of time together but whenever we do, it's hugs all around and catching up is easy. We need to do that more!   

Ron has seen the two older children graduate from Sonora High and when another was lost in school, he pulled her back in and guided her to graduation. He is about to see that last "nephew" graduate this June and I'm sure he will be proud, even though he can't remember his name and calls him by his older brothers name (that's not the Parkinson's). 

When Ron told me that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's, I didn't get upset. I knew that his faith would give him the strength to battle this and just the other day we joked about it. Ron faces problems head on and doesn't say "why me."  His children couldn't have asked for a better father and role model. 

Pat was the first friend I called to tell about my Chiari and then my Parkinson's. I knew he would be of great support and would not run away in fear.

Proverbs 17:17

A friend loves at all times

No matter the call in the middle of the night that is what friends do, they love at all times. When you are in trouble you call out and you know you have back up. It's like during batting practice when you are shagging fly balls. When you yell out  "I got it" your friend does not beat you up if you drop one. Instead, they encourage you or they make fun of you, or better yet they catch it when you miss.

Pat

Ron has been in my life in one way or another and will continue to be no matter how many miles are between us. I love him and will always support him.  He has always been a great uncle to my kids, a great brother to me, a great friend to my wife and a great person to so many others. 

I can't shag fly balls anymore but if I had a bucket list there is one thing I know I would have on it. That is, that one day I would love to pitch one more inning. To take the mound and feel the sun on my neck and the wind under the brim of my hat. I would get grass stains on my pants and strawberry burns from sliding into second. I would smell the hot dogs at the concession stand and lick the dirt from my finger tips.

The umpire, Jeff Darone, would yell "Play Ball!" I would check the outfield. My brother Sean would be in right, Marc would be in center and Donnie in left. I would look in for the sign from George catching  and then I would wind up and let it fly.  There they would all be. My brother Bill at third, John at first, Ray at short and behind me at second base would be my buddy Pat. They would all be yelling encouragement and covering the infield of my life as I make "My Journey."

May God Bless you all today and everyday and may your day be filled with extra innings and plenty of hot dogs with mustard and relish.


The Best

What kind of love is the best kind of love?
The one above all the rest of the loves.
Grab a hat, a bat, a ball, and a glove.
It's the love that I feel for you.

What kind of day is the best kind of day?
Makes up for all of the rest of the days.
The park, the backyard, I don't care where we play.
As long as I'm with you.

Know I'll miss you deep inside.
I wish that we could go outside, to have a catch or two.

What kind of place is this strange scary place?
And who put these tears and this dirt on my face?
No matter the score or the count at the plate.
I'll still be swinging for you.

'Cause I need you in my life.
Wish that we could go outside.
Just to have a catch or two, me and you.

What kind of love is the best kind of love?
The love above all the rest of the loves.
Take the ball, the hat, my bat and the glove.
It's a whole lot of nothing without you.

And I'll be waiting here outside.
Spring or Fall, rain or shine.
To have a catch or two.

'Cause your kind of love is the best kind of love.
The best that love could ever do.