2023

It's time to say a goodbye to 2023.  New Year's Eve morning.  Sunday.  Portland Brew.  Jude and the boys are still in bed and I'm patiently waiting for my first cup of coffee.

I had Covid-19, again, to start the year.  Late January to early February.  Fortunately, I didn't feel as poorly as I did the first time around, in 2022.  

Work was, well, work.  More trial work or, at least, more cases that didn't settle easily.  A very difficult case that settled a week or so before trial, in mid-November.  Slightly few mediations, I think, because I had fewer available days on my calendar to mediate for others.

My partner's wife fought colon cancer, successfully, but it was a tough year for her, for sure.  A close high school friend was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  He won't outlive it but the news has been better lately.  He even started a text string about the bowl games yesterday.  My other partner has a second hip replacement right before Christmas. 

Sport, sports, and more sports for the boys.  

Basketball and baseball for JP in 8th grade, followed by travel baseball over the summer.  A trip with JP to the Tri-Cities in East Tennessee was a highlight for me, although not necessarily for the baseball.  Getting away with JP, on our own, was nice.  This fall, more travel baseball, cross country, and now, basketball.

Basketball and baseball for Joe last winter and spring.  Club soccer for Armada in spring and fall, which included a trip Joe and I took to Chattanooga.  It was enjoyable to spend some one-on-one time with Joe.  Travel baseball this fall for Joe wasn't anything to write home about in terms of how he performed as the youngest member of the team and the conflicts with soccer games.  The practices were great for Joe's development, though, and I'm interested to see how he progresses as a baseball player moving forward.  Joe ran cross country for the 5th/6th grade team at USN.  He came into his own as a full-time goalie for his Armada soccer team this fall and played particularly well at the last tournament of the season, in Murfreesboro.  In basketball, he didn't make a Stars' team after   three days of tryouts, which was intensely disappointing to him (and me), but life goes on.  

Baseball in spring was different, for sure, after Joe and his original Junior Dodgers teammates initially were left without a team as a result of the unexpected and inexplicable duplicity of Oliver Davis.  Our friendship was ruptured beyond repair because of Oliver's actions and, more significantly, the fact that he refused to acknowledge Joe or any of his teammates on the baseball field later in the spring and in the fall.  

In terms of individual performances, JP pitched a complete game in a 1 - 0 loss to David Lipscomb in the HVAC middle school tournament last spring.  Gutsy, dominant pitching performance and an all around great baseball game.  He smoked a base hit to left center field, too, in the bottom of the last inning, off Lipscomb's best pitcher, only to be forced out at second base.  Watching his teammates - most of whom were 7th graders - line up to congratulate him for pitching his balls off was a special moment for me.  

This fall, Joe put out the fire for the Dodgers, in a late season game we really, really wanted to win.  I wrote about it at the time but as I recall it now, I still get goose bumps thinking about his focus and determination in saving the game for his team.  

Jude and took the boys on a trip to California - San Diego and Santa Monica - for our summer vacation.  The highlight, of course, was seeing baseball games at Petco Park and Dodger Stadium.  I've written about that, too, but taking in two games at Dodger Stadium was a little like going to baseball heaven for all of us.  It was a trip all of us will remember, I think.

The entire cross country season for JP's MBA varsity team was, well, a dream.  It culminated in MBA's first ever trip to NXN (Nike Cross Country Nationals) in Portland, OR, after the team unexpectedly finished in second place at the NXR in Cary, NC.  We had a fantastic trip to Portland, OR, to watch the boys race.  

For me, coming out of retirement to coach Joe's Dodgers a final team, in fall baseball, was a personal highlight.  The experience was something I wanted, and needed, to bookend my baseball coaching career, as it were.  I will never, ever forget how special it was and how good it felt to be coaching my own team of Dodgers again.  Late practices on Tuesday nights with the boys and calling the shots at games on Saturdays were so memorable, particularly with the realization that it was the end of the line for the Dodgers, and for me as a head coach.  The fall season has a little bit of everything, just as I hoped it would. 

In terms of individual accolades for the boys, at the junior school graduation last May, JP was awarded best athlete fo the junior school.  That was big for him because he doesn't play football or wrestle for MBA.  To our surprise - shock, really - he also was selected as the best boy of the junior school, an enormous honor.  Jude and I had tears in our eyes as the retiring head of school, Brad Gioia, presented him with the award.  Amazing.

This fall, Joe's favorite teacher, John Kleiner, sent Joe (and us) and e-mail that made my day, month, and year.  In his own inimitable fashion, John described Joe as an "influencer" in the classroom.  Not an internet influencer but as a true leader, because of the way he treated others, participated in class, and through his leadership and the example he set.  Also amazing and more evidence that Jude and I are blessed beyond belief to have the boys we have. 

I kept running throughout the year, although my total mileage wasn't what I hoped it would be.  I finished the year strong, though, and I'll hit 20 + weekly miles today for the last week of the year, something I only accomplished one or two times throughout the year.

We spent some time in Sewanee for fall break and Thanksgiving break and, as always, had a blast. 

JP, learner's permit in hand, drove throughout the year, mostly with Jude.  I felt like I was at Disneyland, on Mister Toad's Wild Ride, with no way off every time he drove my truck with me riding shotgun.  

There's more, so much more, but that's all for now.

Suffice to say, all of us are blessed beyond belief.  

Goodbye 2023.  Hello, 2024.