Sunday, October 30, 2016

Swing Away, Gerry


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Now that Gerry’s gone,
there’s a big hole in the road.
Gentle. Gruff. Private. Giving. Gerry went down the road for the last time Saturday.
He knew more about baseball than anyone I’ve known:
records, stats, ERAs, homerun hitters, the Indians’ 1958 numbers.
So it’s no surprise that he beat cancer for four years.
He knew the odds.
Until a couple of weeks ago, when the odds caught up with him.
When I saw him yesterday, he grasped my hand and said, “Thank you, Ted.”
He didn’t know that the Cubs and Indians were tied up.
And he gave me his brand new Red Sox cap.
That’s when I knew he was going.
Gerry died overnight, not knowing how the World Series
or the presidential election would turn out.
And he headed down the road.
Swing away, Gerry.

1 comment:

Gail Kenny said...

Sweet. Thanks for sharing your feelings about Gerry, Ted. I love the photo of him walking down the road with Rainy.

Gerry and I shared being weather nerds, diligently measuring and recording daily rainfall. When I was away and it rained a lot, I would check with him to get his rainfall records to complete my records.

He also had a dry, quirky sense of humor. He loved to make some lame joke when I would call his house to talk to Melody or Bree. Gerry and his family shared in many meals and events and school stuff while my kids and his grandkids grew up together.

He will be missed in our community and especially by his family and good neighbors like you.