My father passed unexpectedly New Year’s Eve

[kc19990]

I’m 44 and my dad unexpectedly passed New Year’s Eve. We buried him on Friday and now I sit here reading Bill James’s Historical Baseball Abstract.

I’ve just recently gotten back into baseball and collecting 6 months ago. It was such a strange thing for me to begin doing again at this point in my life. I didn’t know why I was drawn back to it so deeply after essentially ignoring both for almost 30 years now.

But I soon discovered the reason - it was another connection point to my dad. I would find myself regularly text him pics of the cards I was buying these days and we would then talk about the players through text or a call. And we even went to some card shops again together for the first time in 30 years.

Until recently, he had never mentioned to me his love for Brooks Robinson and Harmon Killebrew. So I had started buying some of those & showing him in person & via text. (I tried to give them to him & get him to start collecting again but he wasn’t that interested - he just enjoyed following my new collection.) I am now planning a full collection of these two HOFers in my dads honor. I picked up these two double autos of Brooks & Harmon yesterday to anchor the collection.




It was nice creating these final memories with my dad - revisiting and reliving the times we once shared together as younger versions of ourselves. I know it made us both very happy.

I will be forever grateful to the game of baseball and the cards that have become more than just pieces of cardboard or investments. For me they became memory keepsakes and reminders of the bond between my dad and I.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bpm0014]

So sorry for your loss. A sad but nice story.

[Eric72]

Terribly sorry to hear this happened. I lost my father in 2020. We had a similar connection regarding baseball. The cards I get in his honor/memory are Don Mattingly and Nolan Ryan.

[Carter08]

Sorry for your loss. The man had good taste
In baseball heroes, that’s for sure.

[KCRfan1]

I am so sorry about your dad.

May your memories of him be fond and last you a thousand lifetimes.

[vthobby]

I'm a dad and I am so sorry for your loss. Please message me your name and address. I'd like to send you something for your collection. Thoughts and prayers to you.

Peace, Mike

[Dewey]

Thanks for sharing. May he rest in peace.

Six months from now or two years down the road when you get emotional out of nowhere and are struck by how beautiful Killebrew's signature is or randomly start bawling in the shower...it's normal. Peace to you!

[Brian Van Horn]

My condolences. Saturday the eighth was the twentieth anniversary of my father's passing.

[JollyElm]

That's rough. I'm so sorry. Please hang in there.

[mrreality68]

Sorry to hear that.

Many of us have been thru it and it is never easy.

[Johnny630]

My Condolences to you and your family, may he RIP. God Bless

[Rich Klein]

Wonderful story -- his memory *IS* a blessing to you and what a great way of honoring his memory.

Rich

[jingram058]

I was very close with my dad and mom. When they passed, it was awful. But time does heal. Take comfort knowing you will see your dad again. This thing called life is but a flicker compared to eternity. And when you see him, he won't be beset by the effects of age or health. All you have to do is believe.

[FrankWakefield]

Connection point...

Sad that you're Father's gone, and what great memories remain where you're already finding refuge. My Dad passed away in 2006, and as time gets me further removed from that I continue to recognize 'connection points.'

Who of us doesn't have something about which we're excited about, and we'd love to pass that passion on to a younger family member; but we can't, because they're interested in Tik Tok or other 21st century stuff...

As a kid I spent (invested) a fair amount of time with my Grandfather, in my eyes he was wonderful. I spent time with his brother, my great uncle. They had an automotive business and a bunch of commercial rental property. Uncle Paul, back in the early 1920's, took a train up to Michigan to pick up a new car that someone back home just had to have ASAP. He was a quiet baseball fan, and he got to see one game in Detroit. He said he saw Ty Cobb get a hit off of Walter Johnson, and steal a base. Oh how I wish I could talk with him about that trip; and how I wish I'd been more interested about that when I was a kid and had asked him more about it then.

Thanks for posting, KC. And condolences for you and your family.

[Leon]

Sorry for your loss and condolences. May your dad RIP....
.

[tobychin]

So sorry for your loss. My Dad has been gone for thirty years, but I still remember him coming home from a hard day in the fields. After supper, he would lie on the bed and he and I would listen to Harry Carey and Jack Buck broadcast the Cardinals on KMOX. I'm sure those fond memories of your Dad will always be with you.

[Belfast1933]

Best wishes to you and thank you for taking the time to share you/your dad's story with us... you can already see that here how your story touched all of us as well.

My dad was a huge Red Sox fan and loved (LOVED) Ted Williams, so naturally, Ted has a central place in my display of my collection. But the more specific card connection was his fondness for Rapid Robert Feller... because of that, I put a ridiculous amount of time picking out just the right Feller for my collection (the beautiful, artful 1950 Bowman - still one of my all-time faves)

We all hope you can find peace and joy in the memory of your dad with baseball, baseball cards and everything else that you were able to enjoy together.

[LincolnVT]

Sorry to hear this.

I can relate...one of my father figures passed away a year ago and he was an avid collector. He also was a Brooks Robinson fan. I remember giving him a signed 1958 Topps Robinson for his birthday many years ago. In return, he gave me a really nice Chester Hoff T207 Broadleaf back that year for my birthday. Now I have both and will pass them down to my children with some other stuff when the time is right. Baseball is a game...collecting baseball memorabilia is a gift...a family tradition with lifetime memories that deserve to be passed down, learned and appreciated...generation after generation.

[vintagechris]

Welcome to the board but terribly sorry for your loss. This is one of the reasons I started a card youTube channel. Our time here is limited and I wanted something my family would have when I am no longer here. Something they could reference forever and remember why I collect cards.

[KMayUSA6060]

Sorry for your loss, but thank you for sharing. I think most if not all of us can relate to having that father/son connection. Please share your progress as you build the collection of those two players.

[nolemmings]

Let me also add my condolences for your loss. This death thing has been popping up way too much in my circles lately and it never fails to hurt.

If you pm your address I would be happy to send you something related to Killebrew, who was one of my favorites also.

Keeping the memories alive through baseball is cathartic, IMO. My dad, now gone for more than 25 years, grew up during the Depression and really didn't collect, but he had several stories to tell and favorite players (Roy Campanella) that resonated with me. I remember him teaching me how to compute "games behind' in the standings when I was about 6, and the look on his face around that time when I asked if Brooks Robinson and Frank Robinson were brothers. You probably can come up with lots of similar stories. It's strange to have a tear in your eye at the same time as an ear to ear grin.

Please stay strong and enjoy what he left you.

[kmac32]

Sorry for your loss as many have expressed. My Dad passed on December 28 and we buried him last Monday. There was 5 inches of snow and ice on the ground and temperature was 10 degrees. Hate funerals to begin with but when it is your parent, there is no choice but to be there.

I was introduced to collecting by my dad. He was not into sports memorabilia but he did collect silver coins. I got his coin collection while my brother got his truck and sister-in-law got his car. Monetarily, I got the crap end of the stick, but emotionally I got the best deal as this was something dad and I did together when I was young. The collection is pretty cool as they are old coins. The pennies were the most interesting as there are many from the 1800’s. Also silver dimes and silver quarters. Also Buffalo head nickels and standing liberty dimes. Some things you just do not see today.

With all that said, I still would rather have dad than the collection.

Peace

Kmac

[icollectDCsports]

My condolences to you.

[Bigdaddy]

So sorry to hear about your dad. My father passed away unexpectedly in 2018, and like you and your father, we had collected together when I was younger. For the last dozen years or so until he passed, he would always buy me a Topps factory set for Christmas. Many good memories of collecting and selling and trading in the mid to late 80's when it was the wild west with all the junk wax. Those cards, while not worth much today, bring back good memories.

My sincere condolences on your loss.

[The-Cardfather]

My sincerest condolences.

My father passed away in 2007 and I still miss him terribly. One of the things that bonded us was our love for the NY Mets. I will always have those "Mets Memories" of my dad, and you will always have your baseball memories with your dad.

[Rhotchkiss]

Like others, I am sorry to hear of your loss. Its nice to know that cards has bee/will be a connection to him. My Dad (still alive) and I collected before college and he would take my brother and me to card shops and card shows all around the DC, VA, MD area. He never really got into collecting, but he always liked the 1953 Topps set and bought a few before giving up the idea. I often think it would be cool to get him that set. Its nice to have that connection. Hang in there

[Daveyc]

so sorry to hear about your dad. I lost my father just last month and I am also 44. the pain is still pretty raw, but I also have some great collecting memories with dad. i remember him driving my brother and I in snowstorms to the card shops because we were so excited to go.

he never collected too many cards himself, but we visited Cooperstown during induction weekend a dozen or more times and we loved collecting autographs of the different HOFers together. those memories definitely give some comfort.

hang in there.

[FrankWakefield]

Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it. Lewis Carroll.

The lesson here is, folks, if your parents are still able to talk with you, TALK with them. A day will come when you can't ask them about this or that. Talk with them them.