The Delights and Wonders of Having Dogs in One's Family!

 

Memoirs of a Geezer

  

Reflections and Observations -- A Bright Passage from the Fantasies of Youth to Illuminations of Advanced Maturity!

This Episode:           The Delights and Wonders of Having Dogs in One's Family!

Nickie!  Quite adept at
piano, she was!!

"Snickers" was the given name, that is, the moniker conferred upon a certain "CockaPoo" of our acquaintance.  Her original family called her "Nickie."  She was a canine of the feminine persuasion.  Following our adoption of said doggie, we, ever after, called her Nickie as well!  (Snickers seemed to us unkind and inappropriate, sort of...  like equating her to an edible thing...   a commodity!!)

(Cockapoo:  An amalgam of cocker spaniel and poodle, not a rooster and a chubby, honey-obsessed literary cartoon creature!)

The adoption was accomplished following the death of his original master, a much-loved family member whom we continue to miss, even some 40 years or more after the fact.  Prior to her passing, she "bequeathed" Nickie to us, fearful that her remaining family members might tend to forget their dog-connected duties, given work, school and personal commitments and preferences!  Understandable, of course, and we were happy to take the dog into our care! 

She was unique, a kind of "First Edition," One-of-a-Kind...  A fuzzy, highly energetic and sort of manic package with a comic and an antic disposition.  A bundle all together repulsive, maddening, unruly, laughable and lovable!

On one occasion, while trotting about in our neighborhood -- a daily routine designed to

The Blog's Perpetrator
in peculiar joggling
apparel, compelling his
"Best Friend" to
bite his leg!

keep one fit -- glad in goggles, knit cap, scarf, logo'ed leg warmers and other odd apparel, she bit me.  Probably didn't mean to bite her deputy master, possibly a case of mistaken identity...  (or fear of lunacy ?!) -- SweetHeart being the principal or Chief of Masters -- she seemed to apologize after I showed Nickie the bite mark and blood on my lower leg!  Nickie, of course, feigned ignorance!

She even bit our lawyer.  Thank goodness he was a dear friend of long standing!  All taken in good humor, even as he hopped in one-legged pain, quizzing us as to why we were present with a strange beast at a cut-rate salvage yard!  (We might have been sued had she bit a member of the legal profession unknown to us!) 

Nickie barked at everything and anything, including insects, doors, the postman, the UPS and other commercial delivery drivers, other dogs, passersby in the neighborhood, birds, visiting children, dignitaries, collection agents, a mean-looking repossession emissary...

Splendor in the Grass...  
Prior to Burial Ceremony!

***************************

When Nickie became quite old and ill, she had to be carried      upstairs to our bed where she'd spend the night in peaceful slumber.  Hearing morning noises, she emit strident barking, waking the household if not the entire neighborhood, tumble out of bed and mostly fall down the stairs, crash into a closet door at the bottom of said stairs, and commence barking fiercely at the offending door!

When Nickie finally succumbed to illness and old age, we took her to the capacious property of our dear friends, Sue and Rob, and buried her near a fruit tree.  As part of the burial ceremony, I sang the plaintive tune, "Old Blue," and we lowered her into the grave...  "I dug her grave with a silver spade, and let her down with a golden chain, singin' 'Go on Blue (Nickie,) I'm a comin' too..." A truly lovely send-off that those of us participating, and no doubt listening from the road, found to be quite haunting, beautiful and memorable!  (Really??!!)

***************************************************************************

She, Kody,  really did have large Black Spots
on her fuselage, or torso!  You'll have to 
take our word!

And then Dakota arrived, or Kody as we came to call her, a mainly white and black-spotted greyhound acquired from a shelter, or humane society canine care center in the county in which we lived at the time.  Our sweet little daughter felt we could not live without a "canine cousin" in our family grouping.  Kody cuddled up to Bethie, our daughter...   and that was that!

As greyhounds do, Kody loved to run, but only the sprint portion of the exercise, and then we practically had to drag her back home as she felt she had done all that was necessary in the running game.  (I think we heard her speak occasionally -- "Leave me alone here on the soft grass...  I'm resting!") 

Our daughter, she who desperately wanted a doggie companion, moved out shortly after the Kody acquisition, leaving her parents with the permanent care and feeding responsibilities for Dog Kody!  

Kody (center, Mostly) with Family Members.  
SweetHeart is at top.  That's Bethie at left!

    Kody had a Houdini-like proclivity of     escaping her collar and lead, frequently.  On     one occasion we found the escapee climbing up  on the body and shoulders of an elderly     woman!  "Git him off, Git him off," the woman  shrieked repeatedly.  We ran to the poor old     dear and extricated Kody from her terrified     person, comically scolding Kody in the     process.  The elderly woman scowled at and     rebuked us, "He should be on a rope or some other means of restraint for pity sake..."  

"He's a girl dog," SweetHeart responded!

In the midst of our old and sagging front porch reconstruction, Kody clawed her way out of the temporary doorway in order to follow her immediate family and other relatives who were embarking on a walk to the local coffee emporium.  She raced after us, crossing a somewhat busy road only to be struck by a large pickup truck.  No fault of the driver's, as he could not stop in time to prevent striking the racing hound.  The poor man wept as we tried to console him, while at the same time assessing the considerable damage to our poor canine.

She was obviously badly wounded in the encounter.  Shocked and limping, belly sagging and filled with blood and other fluid, we rushed Kody to an animal emergency clinic.  Throughout the ordeal, various veterinarians continued to consult with us, halting our continuous circumnavigations as we nervously paced the waiting area.  "She'll need more treatment," a vet doctor told us.  "Um, she'll need this kind of treatment...  and these sorts

of medicines..."  $3000.00 later we carried her to our auto, and then into the house.  SweetHeart fed her by hand.  Soft foods.  Oatmeal, cottage cheese, soft-boiled eggs....  Kody became the Cleopatra of wounded animals, dedicated servants at her bidding!!

At various times in her life with us, Kody -- food obsessed and thieving like no dog before or since --  ate an entire complement of chocolates, regurgitating and depositing offal everywhere in the house, not a spot of carpeting was spared!  On another occasion, SweetHeart having baked one of her famous cheesecakes promised for a function we were to attend, Kody devoured damn near the entire cake!  Kody was a master food thief.  We were not always happy with her, particularly when she consumed our dinners!  

Our fault, I suppose.  We should have concealed all manner of food stuffs, placing them well out of her reach or ability to sniff out and devour!!  

Pete (left), Yoshi (right) and
Alie (Center)....  Walkies!!

On one of her escapes, she fled into nearby Lake Park and encountered a not-too-friendly skunk.  Our neighbor used his roommate's new convertible, rescued Kody who resultantly,        permanently deposited and impregnated skunk aroma in the    upholstery and carpeting of the gorgeous new automobile.  The roommate was not pleased, perhaps needless to add.  But, Kody was rescued, safe...  That must count for something, eh?

Kody lived 13 years.  We did not have a chance to offer her a burial ceremony, as a local humane animal clinic put her to sleep.  Kody had cancer, couldn't eat, couldn't digest food.  She was positively skeletal.  Very sad.  We miss them both, loved them both.  Wonderful companions.  Wonderful, fun and often challenging family members.  

************************

     Pete with Lucy!        

    There is, however, a kind of compensation.  Both of our beautiful          daughters have dogs -- Pete (Peter, Petey...) and Yoshi, both males         of the species, the former a rescued street dog, a tan-colored mix of     beagle and no one really knows what else, but with a sweet
    disposition.   The latter is all black, another mixture of breeds, a         small "Labra-Doodle"sort of creation!  

Yoshi, après bath!

    He, Yoshi (or Yo Yo, his sort of nom de plume!)      has a bark that seems as though he may have         swallowed an amplifier with no volume control!  Both are interesting, delightful creatures.  We are happy to spend time with them, and that helps to mitigate the loss of those former pals, their memories etched in our heads and hearts, their adventuresome stories a frequent source of merriment! 

(Dedicated to Dog Lovers Everywhere, particularly those who took possibly unwanted  shelter-bound dogs into their hearts and homes.  We are of course kindred spirits, are we not?  Indeed we are!  Thank You!) 

(Humbly Submitted 04-29-2025 -- By Joel K.)   

 

 

 

  

  

Loss... The Wounded Heart!

 

Memoirs of a Geezer

  

Reflections and Observations -- A Bright Passage from the Fantasies of Youth to Illuminations of Advanced Maturity!

This Episode:             Loss...  The Wounded Heart!

It is of course inevitable, if sadly so, damn!  We're not designed for permanence.  We are not rocks or water or earth...   or carbon, perhaps?  Doesn't matter.  In the hazy milieu

of GeezerHood, we experience the loss of those we love and cherish!  It's a rotten business!  We usually don't care to think of it, or dwell on it, or wallow in misery as if figuratively, morosely standing at the "terminal bus stop," pondering the inexorable end of life!    

Most recently, our dear friend, Susie, drifted away after 15 months of illness, much of it in agony and suffering, but through all of it she exhibited extraordinary courage and strength.  In much of that time her attitude was laced with remarkable optimism, even hope, a quality her family and friends shared with prayer and bold attempts at a kind of sanguine bouyancy, a hopeful positivism, even cheerfulness, if a bit naive, knowing in our hearts that nothing could save her.  

The chemo and drugs and therapy did little to mitigate the experience, while it devoured her time and her energy.  She was far too good, loving and generous to have been

That's her with her friend, or
was it her pet...  bald eagle!  Such a good
time, one of many travel adventures!

subjected to an end of life so damned undeserved.  Her family and friends benefitted enormously from her kindness, emotional strength and loving spirit.  She was a treasure among those of us who could never hope to compare!

**************************************

In early August of last year, 2024, my brother, Kris, succumbed to enough cancer to spread among those far less important and valued, far less valuable to the human species.  He was another treasure, with a tremendous degree of talent and skill and loving generosity.  His gifts endure and will long be remembered and cherished by everyone who knew him and were lucky enough to bask in the remarkable force and richness of his personality.

My sister's first-born of three sons died recently, nearly a continent away from his home in California.  Too young!  We weren't close, emotionally or physically.  He was a good man; he looked after his grandfather, my father, during the latter's long hospice care.  My nephew did so with love and generous kindness, temporarily minimizing  his own academic and other more desirable, personal pursuits, the kind that would normally occupy the minds and physical activities of most vital young men.   

That's him with Bride, Jaynie.  
It's an old picture, 1965
probably!  

I guess the point is, loss and death are crap!!  I know, I know...  No one, not one of us escapes.  We're all doomed.  Our only hope is that we can endure long enough to spread some light, benefit our families and our best chums, our colleagues and comrades!  

I'm told there's such a thing as a peaceful passing, one that is not that sort of lethal dagger such as cancer and other horrific diseases, the kind that linger...  I've known a couple, maybe a few, who died peacefully in sleep!  Too bad we can't all book in advance such a ticket to the inevitable grave! 

The eminent psychiatrist / philosopher, Carl Jung once said, or wrote, "Life behaves as if it were going on (forever)..."  We all seem to harbor the illusion of immortality, suggested often in literature, including one of the writings of Jean Paul Sartre.  The protagonist in one of the author's tales "surrenders that illusion..." and, his death sentence delayed, possibly reversed (I can't readily recall...), feels he is or may as well be dead, having given up, surrendered to it, admitting dully that nothing mattered any longer.  

I don't know why the hell those bits of existential musings come to mind...   Perhaps I'm  getting a bit maudlin!  I didn't mean to dwell on that topic, as in, where the hell did that come from...!  Apologies...        

****************************************************************************

It seems a bit strange, maybe a little wrong, to introduce a topic that is perhaps an inappropriate digression...  not nearly as heart wrenching or sad, but loss nonetheless...   The subject is relocation...    Moving!  In summer of last year, we sold our house of something in the neighborhood of 28, approaching, maybe, 30 years, and moved west from our east side Milwaukee home to a large suburb.  We loved living east, near the city's vibrant downtown area, near the big lake.  

It was a difficult move, physically, of course, but emotionally as well, but one we regarded as timely and necessary.  Many can  

The old house!

and will empathize, I'm certain.  Getting rid of years of "stuff" is also a tricky and difficult undertaking.  For some, sentiment presents a major obstacle.  For others a pleasing relief to be rid of the often useless and unwanted clutter accumulated over the space of so many years.  I hoarded several old telephone books, for example, often a subject of ridicule!  (You know...   important numbers circled and saved in case of need!)  

Well, gosh -- realizing I should put an end to this morose business -- everything we value is eventually lost when we finally meet, in the words of the incomparable W.C. Fields, "The Fellow in the Bright Nightgown."  Meantime, for those of us still standing, we are best advised to savor the joys of life and its many adventures, its good, and bad times too, thankful for all we have, particularly for its real and enduring diamonds, namely, our loving family members and our cherished good friends!  

So long Susie, Kris and Keith.  We loved you!  We'll miss all of you terribly.  We hope, if those with religion and spiritualism in their hearts are right, you're in a better place, waiting for the rest of us to arrive, all of us bathed in the bright auras of joyful rebirth!! 

(Humbly Submitted 02-28-2025...  by Joel K.) 

     

A Brilliant New Career...

Reflections and Observations -- A Bright Passage from the Fantasies of Youth 

to Illuminations of Advanced Maturity!

This Episode:             Adventures in the "Dining Car"...   (Act Two!) 
The Players:            Undine and Ulmer
Title of Act Two:      Embarking upon a Brilliant Career as "Goober Comestibles" 
                               (GC) Pick-Up and Delivery Transportation Professionals! 

A Stage Play (sort of...)!

The Settings:    A Vehicle Bumping along a Lumpy Roadway, Somewhere in the Midwest, at  various food purveying establishments and at the residences of varied food consuming recipients!)

Date and Time:    (scene One) Early Afternoon; (scene Two) Evening...

Scene One    (Character names have been modified in order to obscure true identities!!)

Undine:   "The whole darn business made me anxious!  First they want my Social Security

number, then our bank routing and checking account numbers!  I mean, what if it was a crazy scam to rob us of our worldly goods, all our possessions and paltry bank accounts?!"

Ulmer:    "Well, yeah, a bit scary, maybe, but in the end it all turned out alright, aina?  I mean, they have to have that information to set us up as legitimate Goober Comestibles delivery guys!  Right?"

Undine:    "Yeah, I guess, but it scared me silly at the beginning.  Didn't it bother you?"

Ulmer:    "Yeah, I admit it.  I was a bit trepidatious at first.  But then I had my panic attack and some gas pains and everything turned out fine...  Oh, and a couple of spasms from my hiatal hernia...!"  

Undine:    "Oh, wait, we have a ding!  Head for Pizza Palacio on Doobish Street!"  (The duo drives down lumpy, pot-holed streets, eventually arriving at Pizza Palacio!).  "We're here.  Make a U-turn to pick me up in front of the joint.  I'll go in and get the stuff, the pizza, or whatever the Goober guy ordered."  (She emerges with a large pizza pie and a paper sack 

containing garlic bread, we think, maybe salad...!)

Ulmer:    "Where do we go...  Where we headed??"

Undine:    "Be patient.  I have to get the routing directions on my app.  This is all done by smartphone and apps, you know.  I don't have everything in my head, and it isn't written on the pizza sack!"  (Undine places the large pizza pie in an insulated cooler sack, the paper sack on the floor to her right!).  Turn right and then go straight for a while.  I'll tell you when to turn...  Wait!  Where's Dibble Street?  Do we have a Dibble Street in this metroplex? I don't think the pizza people gave us proper directions!"

Ulmer:    "Hey!  There's an average man on the street!  Excuse me, um...  pardon me!  Average

Man, Do you know where Dibble Street is?"

Average Man on the Street:    "Yeah.  You're just a few blocks away...  It may or may not end at the intersection of Boswell and Binkley...  I think!  Just keep driving.  You'll find it..."  (Eventually, they find the destination, about 20 minutes later!)

Undine:    (At the high-rise apartment of the pizza recipient Goober guy who ordered the large pie!)  "Excuse me ma'am (to the concierge)...  Do you know the apartment number of George X.?  We have an incorrect apartment number!"  (Finally, with exemplary detection, they find the correct apartment!)

The Goober Guy Pizza Recipient:   (Opens door following loud knocking and bell ringing)  "Where were you.  This pie must be cold by now, for pity sake.  I'm not happy..."  

Undine:   "You could re-heat it.  Do you have a conventional oven?  Convection, maybe? A microwave?  A toaster oven?...  A box of matches?"  (Recipient slams door in the faces of Undine and Ulmer!  They ride down the elevator and jauntily bounce down a few steps to the waiting vehicle, its emergency flashers blinking importantly!!)

Ulmer:   "Hey!  Another ding!  We're really rollin'...  Where to?"

Undine:   "Um...  Wait, it's thinking...  Ah!  Head for the 'Great Wall of Fong' on Muggle Street...      (Pause to pick up order!) OK, now we've picked up the order.  Head for the University District, State Avenue just north of 18th Street.  The guy who ordered is, um, lemme see...   Zhing Woo W."

Ulmer:   "Here, let me pop out of the car and deliver the food into the hands of...  What's his name again...   (Hands a package of Emperor's ToFu and Chicken Lo Bong to the customer!)  Here you go...  Um, Wing Wei Woo??!"  (Customer looks at Ulmer as if considering him a Sinophobic buffoon!  Undine is convulsed with laughter and has to close the car window and turn away from the scene...). 

Undine:   "His name is Zhing Woo W., you bubblehead!  (Still laughing!) Isn't life grand?! Just a fine inaugural outing in the new but ongoing adventures of Goober Comestibles professionals!...  Maybe we should call ourselves, 'The Great Goober Gastronomic Team'! "

Ulmer:   "You know what I always say:  'Give the client what she or he wants, and put smiles on the faces of all and sundry... ' Is that a ding?  Where to, oh Chief delivery purveyor??!!..."

Undine:   "Hmmm...  Looks like a Mexican restaurant...  Las Uvas, or something like that...  Don't move!  Wait 'till Millie gives us directions!"  (The computerized voice of the GPS 'Goober' directions giver announces, 'Turn left, then turn right, then turn left, then make a U-turn, then arrive on your right, or, your left...' "  Undine and Ulmer call her Monotone Millie, sometimes Mechanical Mildred!) 

Ulmer:   "I'm getting hungry!  When can we eat our wrapped sandwiches?  Are there pickles...?"


(Special Note:   The perpetrator dedicates this writing to Bethie in honor of her milestone birthday, and to let her know how much he loves and honors her.  She is brave, strong, smart as the dickens and beautiful, an exemplary mother, sister and daughter, and he, the perpetrator, is privileged and always delighted to have her in his life!  Happy Birthday!!)

-- Humbly Submitted, 06-29-18 -- Joel K. 

"Captain Romance" and Rapt Attention to Birthday Planning!

Reflections and Observations -- A Bright Passage from the Fantasies of Youth 

to Illuminations of Advanced Maturity!

This Episode:        

"Captain Romance" and His Rapt Attention to Birthdays...  Sort of...!


I freely confess the fact that I'm not great at giving the Gift of Planning -- meaning birthday

celebrations -- and it is a gift that most spouses genuinely appreciate, and to which they should be richly entitled...  Yes, I'm aware it's true! In my Geezerhood I should know better; I should certainly know by now!!...    

SweetHeart has a milestone birthday coming up very soon!! As a point of reference, however, related to the theme of this tale, I suppose we need to look into the distant past...  Some years ago, she asked me to plan her special day, complete with a particular choice of ice cream cake and one or two additional special

This wasn't exactly the cake, but you
probably get the idea.

elements, such as choosing and booking a restaurant, along with maybe a music venue, a movie perhaps...  Dancing!  (I don't dance very well...  I tend to move my arms a bit while my lower torso remains sort of "mired in concrete," on a chair or stool!)  

But, to continue...   I arrived home from work on that fateful Birthday...  "Where's the cake?" she asked, pointedly.  
"Uh..." I responded.  "I, uh, the cake, you say...  I sort of forgot.  Should I dash out and make the purchase now? Um, what were the particular ingredients you wanted again?"
"Where are we having dinner," she asked, now just a bit beyond skeptical as to my reply.
"Uh...  um... I sort of forget to..."
"Wonderful!," she responded. "I should have known better."  
"I'm really sorry, SweetHeart," I stammered and sputtered nervously, guiltily too, of course.
"Do you remember what I always say about what I want for my birthday?" SweetHeart asks.
"Um, gosh," I began to reply, "that you don't want to have to plan it?"
"And then what do you most often say in response?"
"Uh... I guess, um...  something like, 'Sweetie Heart, what do you want to do for your birthday?" (Gulp!!)

In the end, I believe I... actually we, to be honest more SweetHeart than me...  figured out a place to dine, and then we went to the ice cream cake store to remedy that portion of my brilliant lack of planning.  "I'm really so sorry," I continued to say, pleadingly, throughout the evening. SweetHeart is nothing if not endlessly patient, understanding and forgiving.  "I'm really sorry," I repeated frequently.  "I'll really do better in the future...  really!!"


"That'll be something novel to behold," said SweetHeart, her words appropriately drenched in sarcasm and disbelief!  

Although one year, to my credit, I planned a Birthday Date Night, complete with a decent hotel in Madison, dinner at a restaurant beyond my means, and even a nighttime horse-drawn carriage ride. My, my, but I was gallant, "Captain Romance" and "Commodore Money Pots" at the zenith of my powers!  Well, yes, it was only that one year in a row!  

Not the actual
costume, but you
get the idea, eh?

But!  This Year!... This year it'll be something quite different, a Birthday Celebration to remember for years to come, no doubt!  We'll lunch at a fine restaurant, attend a Brewers Baseball contest during which we've both pledged to eat stadium hot dogs!! A true rarity!!  By golly, this is quite a magnificent plan, and SweetHeart should be suitably delighted and gratified. "Lemme see, now...  did I order the baseball tickets?  Did I make the reservations...?"

The image above is an actual photo
of Miller Park where SweetHeart
and I plan to view an actual ball
game on her Birthday!!...  Hot Dog!  

As SweetHeart's major birthday celebration draws near, our beautiful daughters are planning a gathering, much to their credit and thoughtfulness.  In many respects, this should surely be a birthday to remember, and cherish! Maybe I'll write about it, post event. You know...  were there fireworks, a live band...  the Beach Boys, for example??!!!  Stay tuned...

One additional reflection, having to do with SweetHeart's brilliant design of one of my own pivotal birthdays.  She created an ersatz costume party, ostensibly hosted by a dear friend. I was exceptionally reluctant at first, having no great fondness for costumed events. In the end, I relented, and then embraced the idea enthusiastically. I dressed as a bag of leaves,

replete with leaf designs painted all over my silly face, leaves glued to a knit cap atop my head, a large garbage sack fastened to my torso containing bushels of leaves.  SweetHeart dressed as a raker of leaves, clad in a simple flannel shirt, cap and jeans. 

As we arrived and our host opened her door to us, a mighty and rousing shout of, "Surprise!" greeted my completely shocked auditory orifices!! I was the only lunatic in costume! The ensuing laughter was louder than the greeting. It was, I'll admit, great fun overall, and a truly remarkable ruse played upon me by the clever and creative SweetHeart. And I was eventually allowed to "de-leaf" myself so that I could actually sit upon a chair and enjoy the festivities.

But I digress!  SweetHeart's birthday celebration is planned, and will -- as our family mandate insists -- continue for at least an "octave," that is, for 8 days at the least, possibly a fortnight! And, yes, there'll be cake, possibly balloons, gifts of course, family...  all of the important and necessary ingredients of a truly fine and memorable fete. I hope to be invited myself!  

(Special Note of Dedication:    For SweetHeart, the light and love of my life, my best friend and companion. Happiest of Birthdays to you! And just wait'll next year...  Wait...  what happens next year?? Do I have it on my calendar??!!...)   

Humbly Submitted 07-21-17 -- Joel K.  

  

     



  

An Homage: A Great Friend, a True Champion!

Memoirs of a Geezer!

Reflections and Observations -- A Bright Passage from the Fantasies of Youth 

to Illuminations of Advanced Maturity!

This Episode:    An Homage to a Great Friend, a True Champion!

Whenever I was privileged to be with him, I knew I was in the Company of a Champion.  My much-loved, lifelong, richly cherished, marvelously talented friend, Stephen F. Johnstone, slipped away on September 8th.  Far too young, far too soon!  Over the course of two or so years, Steve wrote a manuscript about his great passion -- gate-crashing.  It's entitled, In the Company of Champions, and chronicles his longtime adventure, something at which he was the true master, the greatest champion ever to gain entry, surreptitiously, into varied iconic events, those into which lesser mortals might only project their longings and their dreams.

Steve and his son Joel

Steve with daughter Shannon

Steve entered the hospital last Monday, the 1st of September, Labor Day.  About three or four weeks ago, it became obvious he had been assaulted by a form of cancer so aggressive, so virulent, that it claimed him just one week after entering Froedtert Memorial Hospital in Milwaukee County.  His family members and Connie gathered round him.  Happily for Steve, most were able to speak with him, hold his hand, express their love.  It seems they turned away for a moment, and he was gone.  As Mary, my wife, suggested, "He gave us yet another gate-crashing moment, almost a mystical performance, the consumate phantom charmed his way along a bright pathway in pursuit of a far more desirable destination."

Reading with Gina's daughter,
Granddaughter Juliana

 

I hope it's not an irreverence, but I have an image of Steve appearing at the Heavenly Gate, speaking briefly with the temp on duty, presenting credentials, being asked, "Do you have your entry ticket?"  And then he's gone.  He's made his way to the Throne where God is smiling broadly, then seizing him in a warm embrace, announcing to his minions, "Steve's here!  He may have snuck in, but I couldn't be happier to have him in the Circle."  

At the Kentucky Derby

The man who, both in callow youth and maturity, spent more time in the Kentucky Derby Winners Circle than any winning owner, trainer or jockey, made it into the greatest Circle achievable.  Along the way, he witnessed extraordinary sporting and cultural events, too numerous to detail.  I am honored to have had Steve in my life.  He was in my wife's and my wedding.  He was one of our original volleyball teammates, an original is so many other ways as well, a first edition in every sense.

My brother, Kris, and I met Steve and his brother, Jimmy, when we were all just 8 or 9 years old.  We bonded -- like tubes of super glue colliding -- almost instantly, forging a lifelong friendship that never wavered, grew stronger with time, seamless, a treasure among the gems of a good and satisfying life.  Even cribbage -- with its extravagant boasts, its wins and losses, battles and tournaments -- couldn't lessen our friendship and our affection for one another.  

Steve (at right) with Joel and Mary,
Gina, Alie (Kriofske) and Shannon

Steve was generous beyond imagination, loving and kind, a truly outstanding friend, father, brother and grandfather.  He gave us -- all who knew him -- the remarkable gift of himself, his time, love and friendship.  I'll miss him far more than I could ever express in mere words, as will we all.  

I hope for Steve that his afterlife includes all of the celebrated figures encountered throughout his magnificent career and his remarkable life, that they'll gather with him to ruminate, laugh and embellish, and to re-live their happiest moments, their greatest triumphs.

I'm finding it difficult to end this tribute, as I can't stop remembering and thinking about him.  I find it hard to put aside my anger that someone so extraordinary, so special, could be wrenched from us with such seeming cruelly, so prematurely.  But everything ends, and so I'll put this passage to rest with his own words.  Steve's beautiful writing included many poems, such as this one, entitled...

WANDERING

The world's a big place  
Blanket it with deeds and seeds
To embrace your place 

Humbly Submitted, 09-10-14 by Joel K.