Finding A Little Light In Very Tough Times

  Some of the developments of this month have hit harder than usual, more difficult for the number of strikes close to home. Too recent, too unfinished, too much despair and too much hope involved to minimize with my words but for the future years that you guys might decide to read through this, to not forget, the briefest of descriptions. The tragedy of the Oakland fire; 33 lost including Draven of Sota. The injustice to Big Bones, what happened to him a reality to all too many in our society. Worry and concern about our parents over falls, injuries, and stumbles. The greatest concern and hope we all have for Tommy, and each difficult day ahead.

Stop. Remember. Hope. Reflect.

  Within all of this, there are daily graces and times to remember fondly.  The focus will be on some of these if only to lift my own spirit up, for a time.

    Dexter assisted with a memorial for Draven. Hours later continued with the Sota Holiday Spectacular, which is an annual presentation that features all departments. It's overall connecting theme was an Ed Sullivan '60's type of show. Dext made his retro style camera and from his spot on! stage could troubleshoot.  "Ted" Sullyvan was played by the very tall actor Trey who one night had to ad lib for several minutes when two poets from the Creative Writing Department were late to their bit. The following night after they performed their piece spot on, Ted Sullyvan voiced appreciation for their marvelous contributions and especially for their punctuality.

photo courtesy Oliver

Last week Dexter and I participated in an Alameda Community Food Bank partnership event.  Along with donations from the food bank, there were gifts to purchase for 30 families that would otherwise be without. Dan Williams of the Raiders has an organization called "Filling The Gap". He is also the Raiders choice for the NFL's Walter Payton award, essentially a Best Citizen award for a player who gives back to the communities he works in.  Dexter and I, among other volunteers were each entrusted with a $500 gift card- one for each family, and each group was provided with a family's wish list to shop for at Walmart. Last year it was only Williams, his mother and an assistant who did the fulfilling but there were a good number of volunteers to help out and we spread out in the big (my, those stores are large) place.

We were lucky. Our list had no requests for Air Jordan sneakers, which would have eaten up much of the balance of our card, and we were able to get everything on our list: Queen comforter set (in Raiders colors), new sets of dishes, glassware, pots and pans, board games, laptop, other items that I can't remember and a gift card. We went over a little bit but were encouraged to, if it was just a little bit; the organization picked up the additional. Plus being a non profit, there was no tax.

Some of his teammates were there to lend support, Mr. Jelly and Mr. Bean. Meeting Williams, with his friendly face and kind manner, I can not understand why anyone would try to block him or interfere with the work he needs to do on the field. Why wouldn't they just let him step by them? He really seems nice, with such good deeds he continues to do, throughout the year.

Here's an essay he wrote about his father, in 2015.  His father never got to see him become a Raider which would have been his Dad's dream come true.
www.theplayerstribune.com/dan-williams/dad

Some friends put in a lot of effort to share and include their family in their lives. They give and support. We have had the benefit of many of our associations to be squarely in this wheelhouse.  Our friend Tina is certainly one of these special people. Not only has she raised a motivated and caring young man, Giancarlo as a single Mom, she is always concerned about the plight of others less fortunate and is always there for us.
Additionally with great parents who have taken Dexter to more 49'er games than I ever will take him and Oliver combined, we'll always have the particles memory of  the eight year old Dr. Pepper bottle.  That being when the Giants seemed to be on their way to their first World Series championship in 2002 (since coming to SF in 1958) at Tina's request we drove over to their place with a celebratory Dr.Pepper bottle. But the Giants ended up losing the last two games of the series even while leading game six, 5-0.  In 2010 when this even actually occurred (hooray!) it turned out that Tina had kept the bottle of Dr. Pepper in her refrigerator all those years. How sweet it was!  And continues to be. Here's from a recent birthday at a restaurant in the Mission District.

      We had Dexter volunteering again at the SPCA windows at Macy's, advocating for kitten Stan, after a nice dinner with Traci, Kevin and Jen, my sis and brother. Seaplane Adventure. Mike visiting us on the 24th. Ruby's first birthday. Oliver's trombone. Christmas morning and dinner.  Thank you everyone. We hope for the best for those in need. It may not be in December, perhaps it might occur in January but Tommy please come back to your home for Christmas.