02.24.04
I started this post once already this morning, railing on about how stupid the
government is blah blah getting in a cultural war over same sex marriage etc etc
while we got our brave troops overseas and I realize now as I write this that
although there are many things that I want to say, there is only one thing that
matters to me, and that is this: everyone has a right to be themselves and be
loved for who they are as long as they don't hurt anyone...how same sex marriage
hurts anyone is beyond me, when it should be up to the 2 consenting adults to
choose the nature of their union...same sex couples are given the chance to
adopt, but marriage is beyond the scope of the culture??? Huh??...really, really
silly...i love you whoever you are, whatever you are...you always have a place
with me... :) It's going to be an interesting election as the powers that be try
to distract us from the WAR and the ENVIRONMENT and the CONTINUED EROSION OF OUR
PERSONAL RIGHTS...but thank God we got "american idol"!!!!!!! if it wan't for
that, well, who knows.... I would just die! Speaking of death, a few months back
I found myself in the fox broadcasting booth, standing behind Thom brennaman and
steve lyons and al leiter as they were calling what was the final game of the
chicago cubs 2003 season...a season that saw our cubbies come within 5 outs (in
game 6) of going to the world series for the first time since 1945...but this
was game 7, and the cubs had asked me to sing the 7th inning stretch...it (more...)
appeared the cubs were about to lose, and the inning took forever as the cubs
gave up 2 more runs...I nervously stood for what seemed like forever , and
finally they introduced me and I said a few words and sang a song that is
usually a celebration of summer and the game I love but at that moment it felt
like I was singing at a funeral...for the rest of my life I will never forget
the grief that accompanied that bitter loss for all of us...many chicagoans have
thanked me for the words I said that night, and i'm glad the words struck a
chord because I meant them...hope springs eternal as the cubs head into this
season with the best starting pitching in all of baseball...whatever happens, we
do love our team and I wish them the best in what will be a highly anticipated
season...thank the lord we have dusty baker, who reminds me of what is so
wonderful about a child's game played by grown men...so, a little story: My
grandmother connie, who is pictured a couple of times in the siamese dream
album, was a huge cubs fan, and was responsible for instilling that passion in
me...it was something we did together, catching the bus for the hour ride down
addison to wrigley field, often on what was called "ladies day" where women got
in the game cheaper for some sort of promotion...one day when I was around 10 we
went early as we often did to watch batting practice...the cubs were playing the
phillies, and almost no one was in the ballpark...a young catcher who had just
been called up struck up a conversation with us, and made my day by talking to
me for around 10 minutes about baseball, and taking a picture...i still have
that picture somewhere...the man only played in the majors for a short time,
never becoming a regular player, much less a star...but on that day he gave me a
great gift, the gift of his time to let me share a little in his dream...GO
CUBS!!! next up, the power of prayer....
