2017 in Review

In 2017, I've written a lot about my mom's declining health, the toll Alzheimer's disease has taken on her and the impact of her ordeal on me and my family.  Yes, it's been a dark year for me at times but not all of the time.  For today, I thought I'd post only happy memories from 2017.

To steal a line from retired former Nashville Banner sportswriter Joe Biddle, below, in no particular order, are some "random ruminations while wondering whatever happened to John Jefferson . . . "  Okay, not really ruminations but happy memories for me.

• Thanks to the generosity of friends like the Allens, Sweeneys and Wrights, we discovered Seven Hills Pool and spent a few quiet, lovely late afternoons and evenings there as guests.  Seven Hills is a neighborhood swimming and tennis club that I fell in love with from the minute we walked in the doors this summer.  For me, it was like climbing into a time machine and setting the dials for the Brentwood Dolphin Club in 1978.  It felt like home.  On several occasions, we took the boys there and had dinner with our "baseball friends," watched the kids' swim together and jump off the diving board and had a beer or two.  

• Jude and I devoured the S-Town (Shit Town) podcast, by This American Life's Brian Reed.  I think my friend, Doug Brown, turned me on to it.  Soon, several of our "baseball friends" listen to it, as well.  Jude and I spent several nights discussing the protagonist, John B. McLemore.    

• Before we moved my mom from Maristone to NHC Place - which was at the best thing that happened to me all year long - I made a habit of stopping by my mom's place during the work day to see her.  Often times, I stretched out on the long couch in her apartment and napped for 20 or 30 minutes, a soap opera playing quietly on the television.  My visits with her were a temporary oasis in the midst of my hectic, stressful life.  I miss those naps on her couch.

• Our trip to Santa Rosa beach was a highlight of the year, as always.  The Allens were staying on 30A at the same time, so hanging out with them made it even better.  I'm a little sad we'll miss the beach the end of this summer, though, since we're headed to Utah to vacation with Jude's college friends.

• Baseball.  The Dodgers and Junior Dodgers.  In the spring, I coached 19 boys on two teams (4, 5 and 6 year olds with Joe) and, as 13 on the Dodgers (JP's 9-10 year olds).  In the fall, I coached two teams only with most of the same kids.  There were lots of baseball highlights for J.P. and Joe.  In our final game of the fall season, at a key moment, J.P. hit a line drive that almost broke the pitcher's arm.  It was scary, for a moment, but amazing when we realized that the pitcher was okay.

• I've always run, but I began to make running more of a priority in my life in 2017, particularly the last part of the year.  I'm hoping that continues into 2018.

• The Predators.  Damn, their run to the Stanley Cup Finals (vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins) may have been the sports highlight of my life.  I saw every home playoff game in person.  The entire state - hell, the entire region - adopted the team and reveled in their success.  It was amazing to be a part of it, for sure.  

• Lots and lots of reading.  Jacksonland by Steve Instep, The Force by Don Winslow, The Hidden Light of Northern Fires by Darren Wang, Flight of Passage by Rinker Buck, We Were Eight Years in Power:  An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Bluebird, Bluebird were notable.  

• I've written at length about Tom Petty's death and how profoundly it affected me.  For one thing, I vowed never to miss another show I want to see.  The cool thing, though, is the way J.P. and Joe have become such big Petty fans in the aftermath of his death.  The last three months, it's almost all we listen to in my truck.

• Musically with the boys, it was a huge year for Kraftwerk.  For some reason, one morning at breakfast, I played a couple of songs from Computer World on Alexa and the boys were hooked.  We wore that album out for several months, especially as Joe and I drove him to school every day.  When Chris Reber and were listening to that album on the way to Franklin High School in 1982, riding in his VW Bug, I never though I'd be listening to to it 35 years later with my sons.  

• Bonnaroo, as always, was a good part of my year.  Doug Brown making a cameo appearance made it even better.  My friend, Paul Jennings, generously allowed us to stay in his cabin in Monteagle, which was perfect.

There's more.  There's always more, but those are a few of my fonder memories from 2017.