A Chatter Box...

Hi everyone,
Sorry I haven't been around much lately. As my gal pal puts it, “Mik is in the busiest part of his year. I know I won't see him very much.” Sports and more sports have kept me busy to beat the band. Hockey and Basketball have kept me swamped to where I haven't done much of anything else. I have tried to make time to spend with the gal pal (at least on IM or texting) because I have been traveling quite a bit and I've got to hand it to my gal pal, she loves me a lot. She listens online to all of the games I broadcast. This really floors me. She listens to all of the hockey games that I broadcast online on Toledo Sports Radio and she doesn't know thing one about hockey. But she is always there for me and I've got to say that it is a great comfort for me to know that she's there listening to every game. Well, every game as long as there is not a Kentucky Wildcat basketball game to watch... then it's “Mik who?” lol... she loves her Cats and almost never misses a game. She's even gotten me to become a fan of UK and their basketball program. But I'm my gal pal's biggest fan. She is simply amazing. She puts up with me and that's no easy task by any stretch. She really is the best thing on this earth to ever happen to me...

The Game of Life...

Hey guys,
First off, a special thanks to Joann out there in California who was kind enough to have folks come visit me in my little corner of the world. Thanks Joann, I appreciate that my friend. I guess I've been thinking lately about how precious life really is. I mean, in the last 6 weeks, I've seen several folks that I knew pass away and it did kind of get my mind in a bit of a pickle. I am a firm believer that if you accept Christ, you are saved. I believe 100 percent that heaven exists and that only through His grace, can we enter. I guess that's why I have had some thoughts about death on my mind. Not in a morbid way or anything. I firmly believe that they are in heaven now. I guess it's just that when people leave you unexpectedly, you're not prepared and are left feeling bewildered, shocked, dumbfounded, and then later, a little bit po'd. That's normal stuff to go through as we process those feelings. Me, I have found some comfort in the fact that I believe what I believe. It's been comforting for me in believing that they are now in a much better place, not suffering anymore. And that they're not just "resting in peace", but that they are enjoying themselves in paradise. I look at those folks and am grateful for the time I had with them. And it makes me appreciate the time I have here on earth now. Especially with my sisters. I don't see them that often, but I know that with everything I've seen them go through with Lou losing both her legs and on dialysis, and Terri still dealing with the ravages of cancer, yet both of them are still able to live life. Terri is still getting chemo every 3 weeks non-stop for the foreseeable future. While the tumors have metastisized in four spots, the constant chemo has prevented them from spreading. They've not worsened. So that's a good thing, even though she is wiped out by the chemo every 3 weeks. Me, as I size up the situations that are around me and have realized something. I've seen others who have suffered much worse than I have. They have had much worse happen to them and some have endured, and others have not. Sometimes, when there's nothing to celebrate or if you feel like there's nothing to be grateful for, (and I've felt that way many times) it might have to be that there are others who have suffered far greater and I can't complain. I mean think about it Mik old son... You're a person of faith. You've got a roof over your head. You've got 3 jobs. You are in decent health for the most part. You've still got a couple members of your family who by all logic, should have been gone long ago. You've got a gal pal who loves you every bit as much as you love her. There are others who would give anything to be in the situation you are in... Sorry for the a.d.d. moment there. But sometimes one has to look back (or in my case, have it pointed out to me) and see just exactly what I have versus what I don't. It didn't seem like much before. But now, I've really grown to value and treasure life and the people in it... Much more than I used to...

Rudy... (no, not the Notre Dame guy)...

Y'know, just when I think I'm dealing with things okay, I get hit with a sucker punch to the flippin' solar plexis that another person that I knew passed away. Rudy was a deacon at my dad's church and he was one of my dad's very best friends. For most of their adult lives, these two were always great friends. My dad was godfather to a couple of Rudy's kids. I got to know him through my dad's church and later in life, they worked together in prison ministry by going to an area prison to minister to the guys in there, dad and Rudy and a couple of other guys. They had mass in there on Saturdays. Anyway, it really hit home for me when I was losing my dad back in '05... Rudy was there every step of the way and was so instrumental in helping prepare my family for saying goodbye to my dad... He was awesome. He even got the (retired) Bishop come and say mass at my dad's funeral. Even though I wasn't catholic anymore, it still meant so much to me that Rudy was able to do that. When we buried my dad, the prisoners had made a crucifix out of string and gave it to my dad. We buried him with it. Rudy had asked the men at the prison to make more of those string crucifixes, one for each of his kids. We all got together for dinner and Rudy came and blessed them and presented them to each of us. I still wear mine to this very day. I don't ever take it off. It reminds me of my dad, and now it also reminds me of Rudy. Of course it always reminds me of God and that yes, He DID die for us... all of us, not just some of us. Regardless of our relationship (or lack thereof) with Him, He did give His life for our transgressions. I went to visitation and when I looked at Rudy, he looked at peace. He buried his wife a year earlier, almost to the day. He felt empty without her. They're together again. With my mom and dad. And if I know Rudy and my dad, they're cutting up like kids and my mom and Rudy's wife are just rolling their eyes like they used to when they got together here on earth. When I first learned he had passed, my eyes were moist and I felt that same sense of loss when I lost my dad. It reminded me of that. But in the midst of the tears, I simply said "thank you Rudy". That's what I will remember him for. He was always a funny screwball type. Kind of like me... Him and my dad would get just crazy and howl with laughter for hours. That and what he did for my dad at the end. I will never forget him... Thank you Rudy. I know you're enjoying paradise. Say hi to my folks for me and tell them I love them. And again, Thank YOU Rudy...