Resolved

We lost Vin Scully in 2022 but we'll always remember

 

Home can be the Pennsylvania Turnpike

Indiana's early morning dew

High up in the hills of California

Home is just another word for you

 -- Billy Joel, "You're My Home"

Two Thousand and Twenty-Two opened like many other years. It was dreary and I was, essentially, alone.

Oh, I think Sean might have been in the house but never kid yourself. We're a great duo but so often just doing our own thing. That's not a criticism at all. We'll have meals together and talk but I often work and he talks to his friends and it's all just fine.

Two Thousand and Twenty-Two will also be dreary as it ends, with rain and fog throughout the day.

In between, there were glimpses of doom with hints of promise and ecstasy. In other words, it was like any other year.

But I came into the year knowing it was time for some things to happen. The most noticeable one was handing over the keys to a new owner of Mom's house.

I had been a ship adrift for years in Mahopac. When I came back it was because I needed to. Then I stayed because Mom needed me. Then she died and those almost last two years were interesting. 

May 24: An empty living room. An era ends.

We made the best of it, keeping the house standing and the lawn manicured. Slowly, a few things would get cleaned out.

We knew that we would be moving out as 2021 ended. The new owner stopped a few times to look around and start making plans for what he intended to do with the house.

Then there no news. Then, suddenly, bam: the closing was set for May. We basically had a month to clean out. It was daunting and hellacious and mentally draining. We cleaned out nearly 60 years in six weeks and I found a new place to live.

A home. A real one.

With our eternal thanks to my landlords, Sean and I moved in with a huge assist from my cousin over two days in late May.

Home. While I love my hometown it was no longer my problem.

I tossed and turned on May 25, adjusting to the new sounds of my home in Greenwich, but it was mine.

Home. Resolved. For now.

There is still more to resolve and more situations to straighten out. As I've said many times, I'd like to get a work base. I don't want to shut down on anyone, especially from a broadcasting perspective. Heck, I still want to go to Ohio and grab the overflow of games that Mike Hirn often talks about. I'm weird but that's my kind of getaway.

Oh I'll get out of town in '23. Sean and I have an agreement to do so.

April 23: The Beatles' Rooftop Concert Site

I went to London and San Francisco. Both might happen again. Given I'm pretty fond of traveling, I'm happy about those thoughts.

Both of those trips -- to be sure, business trips -- still brought me great joy. I often think about climbing 528 steps to the very top of St. Paul's Cathedral. That wasn't easy for me. Of course, I think about visiting Abbey Road. But, perhaps most of all, I think of the quiet Saturday morning when I found myself standing below the site of The Beatles' rooftop concert on the roof of Apple Coprs' headquatrters.

Aug 20: Philadelphia

There were plenty of wonderful moments on this side of the Atlantic also. Besides San Francisco there was Cooperstown, North Carollina, Philadelphia, a drive all around Hartford, and myriad other fun moments.

The Greenwich Town Party, when Billy Joel rocked our town and Sean and I hosted on WGCH, was a wonderful time. Adding Susan, Lucy, and Annabelle for evening was a moment I'l always remember.

But it's time to move the ball down the field also and resolve other things. One way or another, I'm hoping we'll get there somehow in the next 365 days.

I can't thank you all enough for reading and commenting. It's humbling how many times I get told, "I read your blog." It is also, in some ways, embarrassing because, as I've often said, I bleed a bit here. 

Sean and I ended the day in a very "us" way: by going to Wawa for a great lunch (yes, great) and then hitting Wegmans (our grocery store) before coming home. 

We continue, as we have for years, to keep moving forward.

Lastly, we remember those we lost. For me, the passing of Vin Scully was like losing a family member.

We end 2022 with the same plea I make every year: be good to each other and let's find peace. Love one another.

See you tomorrow when we'll all feel ... precisely the same.

Dec 31: He's still here