The Drought is Over for Cleveland

The last time Cleveland has seen a championship team and win was in 1964. There has been a 52 year drought for the town, with their football, baseball and basketball teams coming up short. They have come close to a win but with the infamous drive, fumble, shot, and last inning let down - those elusive championship rings and titles were snatched from the teams and the town.

I grew up in Cleveland and have been a Browns, Indians, and Cavs fan my whole life, despite moving away from Cleveland when I got married. I have lived in Pittsburgh for almost 40 years and have lived where there have been lots of championships won by the sports teams. I know what a winning team looks like. I also know how it feels to cheer one on and have Mondays be happy ones during the football seasons. I have watched the parades and celebrations on the local television.

As a Cleveland fan…I have high hopes before the sport seasons begin, only to face disappointment and echo what every other Cleveland fan says, “Wait until next year!”

But last night was different. I watched the Cavs play the Golden State Warriors and when Cleveland was down 3-1 in the series…I wished and hoped for a miracle. I didn’t want to face another year without that championship feeling. Game 5, 6, and 7 saw a different Cavs team. I saw a different LeBron James. I saw pure determination and concentration on his face. I know when he left to play with the Miami Heat; I was upset and disappointed in him. I have come to realize, that he needed to leave and win championships. After two back to back wins, he came back home. LeBron, who is from Akron, Ohio, came back home and back to the Cavs. He promised a championship and he set one up.

Last night, I not only set my DVR to record the game but I watched it live and then re-watched it, again. I was nervous and when the last second ticked off the clock…I opened my window and screamed my head off. The drought was over, the curse was lifted and the Cavs brought home a championship to a city and its loyal fans, after 52 years. I finally found out what it meant to feel happy and have a championship team. It felt awesome and it felt good.

Thanks to the Cavs for that awesome feeling. But mostly, thank you LeBron for coming back home and fulfilling a promise!

Best of Fare Thee Well Tour

On my two hour drive to Cleveland, I filled the time and the inside of my car by listening to the music of the Grateful Dead, blaring from my CD. I was playing the Best of Fare Thee Well tour from Chicago, Illinois, Soldier Field on July 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th of 2015.

It was difficult to believe that the music of the Grateful Dead has been around for 50 years! As I listened to the first two songs – Box of Rain and Shakedown Street, I was surprised at how weak the singing sounded. It was the Grateful Dead music and songs but I realized that those musicians were older…some in their 70s. They still could play their instruments and they did with feeling but the voices were somewhat frail.

I love their music and the way they play, going on and on with their feelings and letting the music flow and with their improvisation. Every time they played a song they changed it up or added more. The music of the Dead struck something inside of its followers. Right now, it struck me as how carefree their music was and how listening to it, I didn’t want it to stop. I felt myself being carried back in time.

The music brought me back in time to when the Dead became phenomena, when the music took off, and it mostly kept our minds off our daily problems. It kept our minds off of the war. It helped fuel the days, it made young girls follow the band and sometimes to see the band they made jewelry to sell and buy a ticket to the concerts. I like the fact that you could record the Grateful Dead concerts without getting hassled or arrested. The music was to listen to, enjoy, and share with other Dead Heads.

With the Farewell Tour, I was disappointed with the astronomical prices of the tickets. I knew in my heart, that Jerry would be frowning over this. This was all about the promoters and making a lot of money. For me, I was just plain disgusted and disappointed.

I am grateful that I have a ton of CDs of the Dead in their prime, where their voices were strong and robust.  This Farewell CD had a lot of their songs included in it. The voices were weaker but the music still had their passion. It was a Farewell tribute, indeed. Thanks for the memories and a vault full of songs!

We Walked For Nolan

 

Last November, Nolan was born. Less than 24 hours, he was rushed to Children’s Hospital and had surgery for a severe GI problem called Hirschsprung’s Disease.  Nolan would stay in Children’s for close to two weeks. If we had to choose a place to be at…Children’s was the place. It was one of those hospitals that see a lot of children with the same problem and where babies are transported there because of the expertise of the doctor’s and staff.

Nolan is doing well now. Pretty much, he had a procedure done and we are hoping that it will solve a lot of his problems. For a six month old baby…he has had his share of hospital stays. But he is the sweetest laid back baby that anyone would love. He just rolls with everything with a big smile plastered on his face.

 

On Saturday, I went to the Children’s Hospital Walk at Schenley Park, along with my daughter, Becca, Nolan, and Will. We were there with 2500 people who attended this yearly event. It is a walk for the hospital and a fund raiser. There were small groups of people and larger groups walking to show their appreciation to the hospital. The fundraiser netted $600,000.00! To me, this was totally amazing. People were giving back to the institution, doctors, nurses, and all those people who helped them through some pretty tough times. Without Children’s Hospital, I don’t know what would have happened to Nolan. I would hate to even speculate.

But the day was fun and it was a pleasant way to fund raise. The sponsors for the event gave away a number of things…Smiley Cookies from Eat’ n Park, Dilly Bars from Dairy Queen, doughnuts,  a complimentary breakfast, free water, and more. There was face painting, free bike helmet give aways, games, special appearances from Batman, a Minion, Marshall from Paw Patrol, and a few others. The Carnegie Museum, even had a Dinosaur walking around, too!

I know that my daughter and grandchildren appreciated the day and we already have decided to try and get more of our family to participate in this special event, next year.

For now, I want to thank Children’s Hospital and their wonderful staff for everything that they did for Nolan!

Playdough

My kids loved Playdough!

My Grandkids loved Playdough!

I loved Playdough!

Playdough gave my kids hours and hours of fun. They would sit at the kitchen table for hours on end.  They rolled it, kneaded it, and molded it into whatever they could imagine. I would sit with them rolling and forming the playdough into figures or animals. I have to admit that I was really good at making dinosaurs.

The one thing that I would stress with my kids and now with my grandkids, “Don’t mix the colors together!” That never worked for my kids or for my grandkids. When both were little, they would mix the playdough colors together and it would like a poopy color. As they got older, a miracle happened - they stopped mixing the playdough colors together.

The other day, my granddaughter, Ava, was playing with my playdough. I sat across the table from her, marveling to myself at the softness of the playdough and all the different shades. I was enjoying rolling it, kneading it, and just handling it.

Then my granddaughter said, “I like how smooth and soft the playdough feels.”

Her comment was right on target. Playdough does have a smooth and soothing quality. It’s fun to play with it and it is also a great way to relieve stress as well.

I smiled at her and murmured, “You’re so right, Ava.”

And for the next 35 minutes, we had a perfect – soothing – fun time as we rolled it, kneaded it, and made whatever we wanted.

Writing a Book is Exhausting

I have been working on a few short stories for a children’s series. So far, I have completed three books for my series. I am also working on a book—sort of a memoir and history of my hometown, Utica, New York. For the past few months, I have been reading background information – books, magazine articles, and newspaper clippings - to help me with the information to write my book.

Writing for me is my safe zone. I lose myself in the volumes of background information and time just gets away from me. For my Utica book, I pretty much have everything written. I’ve decided on the number of pages that I want in my book. Now, I have to go through the pictures that I want to include.

I am not quite finished with the book. Now, the real work begins. I have to go back over my story, re-read it, and make sure that all the facts that I have included are correct. Then I have to check my grammar and correct all the errors. But I still won’t be finished. I’ll go over and over my book a few more times, and then hand it off to my friend, who usually reads over my writing. She will definitely catch some of the grammar errors and punctuation that I have failed to notice.

Afterwards, I will work on a query letter and try to figure out what publisher or editor might be interested and then send the letter out. That will take time. And, if that doesn’t work – I’ll self- publish my book on demand and publish it on Kindle and on the Nook site.

There is so much work that goes into writing and getting a book published. In the end though, it really is worth all of that hard work!

Where Did The Time Go?

The other day I was sitting talking to my oldest granddaughter, when she mentioned that she will be 20 years old in December. That shocked me…20 years old!!!! Wow…where did the time go??? I know that I was busy and watching some of my grandchildren. Five years after Hannah was born, 22 other grandchildren came along. So maybe that was the answer…like everyone else, all those grandchildren kept me blurry and busy.

When Hannah was born, I was 20 years younger than I am today. Since she was the first grandchild on both sides of the family, her other grandparents and I volunteered to babysit while her parents worked. It was fun. I still had kids in high school living at home, who would help me out when they were around. They actually enjoyed having a little baby, then a toddler around.

We split two days a week to watch Hannah. It was all year round, which was fine with me. Hannah was really an easy baby to have in the house. I looked forward to watching her those two days. Hannah kept me busy and she fine-tuned me for what would be…more grandchildren! Five years later, I would watch her baby sister and also another granddaughter at the same time. Crazy me!!! It was like having a toddler and a set of twins. I was prepared for that, having my own twins and toddlers at the same time.

I can’t believe that Hannah will be finishing her first year at Point Park College this year. Time has really moved. I have 22 other grandchildren. I am babysitting one day a week for my youngest daughter’s two little boys…one who is a few months old and the other is 2-1/2 years old. It is a little harder but everything is the same…bottle feeding, changing diapers, and amusing them. But running after the older boy is a little harder on the old knees.

I still pull out books to read, coloring books and crayons, chalk, playdough and Fisher Price Little People and Farm animals. When the weather is nice, I take Will out and let him play in my back yard, while his brother, Nolan, is napping in the house.

Yes, I pretty much do all the same things with the boys that I used to do with Hannah. I do miss the little Hannah who inspired me to write about her and then the other little grandchildren. I have to say that Hannah is special because she was my first grandchild. I love her deeply as I love the others. I love her smile, laughter, and her art work! She is one in a million and my oldest granddaughter and I know for a fact that there will always be a special bond between us.

But for now, I do have to thank all my kids for all those grandchildren who have kept me somewhat agile and young!

By the way, my youngest granddaughter, Mina Noelle, was born on February 28, 2016…welcome to our big family Mina. There is no doubt that you will be loved and cherished!