Erie, PA to Amherst (west of Cleveland), OH
Monday, July 23rd

I woke up this morning and headed over to Calvary Cemetery to visit my Grandpa’s gravesite. I said a prayer, shed a couple tears, snapped a photo and took off. He was a great Grandpa, I was blessed with two. In a society where many people do not get to know their grandparents, I was able to grow up with both sets being an integral part of my life. This is and increasingly diminishing part of American life.


After that I went over to Grandma Steph’s place at St. Joseph’s home. St. Joseph’s is this cozy independent living retirement home. She loves living there. I know the place well because my high school practice field sits behind it. My high school is in downtown Erie and therefore land locked, many of practice fields were scattered around the city. I remember that during practice the folks from St. Joe’s would set up chairs outside the fence and watch practice. During the hot practices our coaches had us take water over to our fans. I remember one lady who would all yell, “Get um boys!!!” as we took off in the team bus to our games.


I had a great visit with G-Ma as she shared stories and remembrances. Her mind is sharp as ever, as evidence of the nearly completed crossword puzzle that my visit interrupted. We talked about family and travels. A great example of hoe cool the adoption story of Christopher and AJ from last post is that my G-Ma Steph says that the little ones are one of the reasons she feels she is still living at 90 years young. Another reason this is a great story is that because my recently deceased Grandpa Steph was an only child and really did not like it at all. As a result family was very important to him and my Grandma Steph. Well as tribute to him his family now number five sons and daughters, fifteen grandchildren, and now three great grandchildren with another on the way. We live across the country and we all keep in touch. I hang out with my cousins who now live in Memphis. My cousin Greg, who has sailed around the world, is staying with my sis in Chicago before he sets sail on another adventure. We are family not just in name but spirit as well. No bad for an only child.

After my visit I went back to Aunt Sue and Uncle Dave’s house for a nap and laundry. Aunt Sue was nice enough to make chocolate cookies for my drive to Cleveland. I took off and had an uneventful trip to my Godparents, Len and Jean Volbert, who live just west of Cleveland in Amherst, Ohio. Mr. Volbert was the head basketball coach at Lima Central Catholic and coached football with my Dad when got hired by LCC out college. They basically too care of him. Whenever I get near Cleveland I try to stop for a visit. When I got there we went to dinner at Outback. I updated them of my travels and caught me up on their family things. We always have a pleasant visit. Each time I visit I get let in on a new story of my father’s early career or the courtship of my mother. The stories remind me of my early days at SBA. As a testimony to Mr. Volbert’s impact as an educator and coach he still gets invited to all the class reunions from the days he was at LCC.