Distraction after Dad's passing

[jerseygary]

I want to offer my condolences for your Father's passing. I know how you feel about baseball helping you get through (or at least get a break from) the sadness - my own Father passed away suddenly in October of 2011. He and I were very close, especially since I graduated college and although we lived on other sides of the country, talked at least 4-5 times a week. Baseball and its rich history was our "bond" and when he left I had no one to share that with. No one around me had an interest in obscure ballplayers and odd trivia. Out of my grief and loneliness, I started writing and illustrating a blog, which I had never done before, nor had an interest in, but it helped me cope with his death.

I did it solely for myself, almost like continuing the baseball talks we had when he was alive. It helped me not to dwell on the horribleness of it all, how unfair it was and focus my free time on drawing and writing. But suddenly, after just a week or two, hundreds of people were following the blog and writing me emails - and I soon found I wasn't alone in my interest in those bits of trivia and odd players. Especially touching were the notes from Dads who used the stories and drawings on my site to get their own boys (and girls) interested in the game they loved. It made me a little less sad when I realized that Fathers were using the site to do what my own Father had done for me long ago. The website's success brought me to a book contract a few months ago and now I will be able to bring that love of baseball that my Dad gave to me years ago to many more people, and when I sit down and really think about it, it's pretty neat.

The friends that I made through the site of course didn't replace my Father, but it did make his memory continue on in not only my mind, but many others who never knew him. I wish you the very best and again, my condolences to you and your family.

-Gary C.