[Sorry this one is long]
Bingo - I'm online. This place rocks! Open 24 hours and free wi-fi.
Following a Board Meeting tonight I high-tailed it to Petco Park to join David Harrison and a game already in progress. I arrived at the top of the 7th and got in on the best part. The game was tied 2-2. Jody Gerut hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 9th to win the game & snap a 7 game losing streak. Better late than never tonight. Always good to see a game with Dave. Any innings I can catch with him are a blessing. I almost lost him on May 20th.*
We have spent many good and bad times together. The good times include sharing games, concerts, meals, the Word, prayers, & the pulpit. The bad times include accompanying him to 4 doctors appointments in the past 4 years where he's been told he has another form of cancer. At the last appt., he was told he would undergo 6 weeks of radiation, 5 days a week. He seemed to take it pretty well at first but then it started to sink in.
His roommate, Larry, called me on Tuesday, 5/20 to tell me that Dave was downtown mixing his regular poison - Cobra beer - with Vicodin. He said he was somewhere new where he hadn't been before and somewhere we wouldn't find him. He was just going to continue popping pills, curl up somewhere and die. Despite Tuesday being my busiest day it was time to find the lost sheep. I didn't have to think twice about it. Natalie and I pointed the Explorer SSW to see if it would live up to its name once more. We stopped anywhere we thought he might be and prayed hard that our paths would somehow intersect. Larry kept us up-to-date by phone.
Dave phoned home periodically. He was beginning to tell Larry what belongings of his he could have after his death. We scoured the caller id #'s on the phone to try and figure out where he was but then realized that service had been dropped months ago. At one point Larry told Dave, "if you're gonna die, come die at home." That turned out to be the ticket. We received a call then that Dave was at home. When I arrived there Dave was not himself - very beligerant. He was taking handfuls of capsules over and over. I tried to subdue him verbally and then physically but to no avail.
He said, "here take this Cardinals hat 'cause I won't be here tomorrow to go to the game with you." He had pitched in the Negro leagues in the 60's/70's and the Cards are his favorite team. I snagged us tickets for seats behind the Cards pitchers' bullpen and I was determined I wasn't going to that game without him.
[He was one of the few white players to play in the Negro Leagues. He thought he was the first. We spoke with Joel McGinty at Daniel Hartzheim's going away party about telling Dave's story on the big screen. I researched it some more though and found out that Eddie Klep was the first & a movie with Adam Sandler is already slated - "Wild Pitch". We'll check with the Producer to see if he can be a creative consultant :) ]
I slipped out and called 911. Dave was very upset when he heard sirens outside. The police came in first (followed by the paramedics), asked us some questions and asked us to step back. I saw the laser beam from the site of a weapon dancing around on the wall - not sure if it was from a pistol or taser. I could see the situation going south pretty quickly if he resisted or put up a fight. I saw his life flash before my eyes and then saw mine. They cuffed Dave and escorted him outside. He was arguing with me, cussing at me and saying he would never speak to me again. I told him I felt it was the right thing to do and I would do it again.
He was released later that night and was talking to me again already. His tongue was black from the activated charcoal treatment. He said he didn't know what got into him - he wanted to check out. Someone told him this recipe and that it was quick and painless. He still wished I hadn't been clued in, knew I was busy and didn't want Larry to call and bother me with it. I'm glad he did. He said he wanted the Cards cap back.
We m
ade it to the game the next night. When I arrived to pick him up he had purchased another Cards cap because he didn't want to give me something only to take it back again. He didn't remember giving it to me but was reminded by Larry. I told him I was glad he was accompanying me and that I would be a Cards fan for one night in honor of the occasion. That's not an easy thing for me to do as they beat the Brewers in the '82 World Series. He got a ball from the players in the bullpen & gave it to me. Even though it's dirty, scuffed up and relegated as a practice ball I will probably keep it forever. It's worth more to me than the 2004 autographed Yankees team ball that was passed down from our friend, the late "Crazy Mike", to Dave, and then to me.Dave is now 5 weeks into the treatments and coming through them like a champ.
Thanks Mom for your tips & influence over the past couple years. You've spent many nights working the graveyard shift on the Suicide Prevention Hotline. They have not been spent in vain.
*Story promised on the 8/12 blog entry. Told with Dave's permission. More on Dave's story at the NCM magazine link on the left side of the screen.
2 comments:
Wow! I knew very little about what had happened to Dave, and I had not heard the story before I read it today. I had to keep taking my glasses off to wipe my eyes. That must have really hurt you when he said he wouldn’t speak to you again and cursed at you. Am I correct in thinking that you just went to the game this week? The last time I heard, he had taken off, and you didn’t know where he went.
Thank you for the kind words about the Suicide Hotline. There have been times when I thought I would quit. When we signed up with them to do a volunteer internship, we had to commit to a year, even though we only received credit for the 32-hour training and the internship for last summer. However, I haven’t felt released from continuing to do it. Last week I had two shifts, and the last night I was on duty, a guy called to thank the hotline for being there for him the night before he called me. He had called the volunteer the night before, and she called 911. He said he was very upset that she called the police, and he was taken to the hospital, but as he lay in the bed, he knew he belonged there. He said before he called me, he called the police to thank them for coming to get him, and he had called the hospital to thank them. He called his therapist the day he called me and was going to see the therapist the next day. It is always worth it if we can intervene and thwart those intentions of others.
I’m glad you could be there to mess up Dave’s plans and be there for him even if didn’t like you at the time. We’re proud of you son! I agree with your dad about your writing skills and your compassion.
We went to three this week (twice arriving late after other duties). Have one coming up Friday night and another Saturday. I normally wouldn't attend this many but it's at that point in the season when you use your unused season tix for unused ticket night and have traded other games you knew you couldn't make for the remaining home games.
Ah, shucks. Thanks! ;{)
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