TERRY MOSHER
CALEB DRESSLER (34)
Mary and I spent the Fourth at our daughter’s place on Mason Lake. There were 13 of us, including Caleb Dressler, a six-foot-10 friend of our grandson Jacob Maki.
Dressler, who played basketball with Jacob (who I call Joker) at Vancouver’s Evergreen High School, is unofficially retired from his college basketball career because of back problems that resulted in two surgeries. He started out on scholarship at the University of Hawaii, but didn’t like it there (the cost of living is extremely high; Milk for instance cost around $8 a gallon) and transferred to Central Washington where this past season he played and started eight games, averaging six points and four rebounds before being forced to shut it down because of his bad back.
Caleb is now intent on getting a degree in education either at the University of Washington or at Western Washington so he can teach and coach basketball. I encouraged him to go to Western since that is where Mary and I got our degrees.
It was fun being around Caleb and most of our family that made it to the lake for Independence Day. The day was marred by the death of my sister-in-law, Peggy Mosher, back in New York State, but her departure on Independence Day was expected and that took some of the sadness, but not all of it, away.
What was truly amazing about the tail end of the Fourth on Mason Lake was the dueling fireworks display put on the next-door neighbors and people across the lake. It started about 9:30 and lasted for two hours as each tried to outdo the other with outrageous exploding rockets that lit up the sky and punctured our eardrums.
And we had a front row seat to this two-hour fireworks madness.
Just when we thought the duelers would be done, it would start up again. It was crazy. And fun to watch. All I could think about as explosion after explosion bounced loudly off my eardrums was the extraordinary amount of money these people had spent to do this. I had to be in the thousands. And maybe it was in the tens of thousands.
It was like watching dollars go up in smoke.
Now I have to do some serious thinking. My brother Ray would like to see me come back to New York, and I would like to go to be able to just be there to add some solace if needed to him for the loss of his wife of nearly 61 years. It’s difficult to comprehend how hard that has to be on somebody emotionally unless you have experienced it yourself.
There are financial considerations to consider as well as whether I can be of any real help considering that my health has deteriorated over the last several years and one major surgery. It’s enough to drive me nuts because I am close to Ray and want to be there, but I also want to be able to be a positive presence and not some rum dumb that can’t walk straight, if he can walk at all.
So we will see in the next few days which way I will go. In the meantime, Ray has the support of a large family network. He and Peggy had 14 kids. Chrissie died June 19 leaving 13 children and their many and assorted children to be there to lend support during these trying days for him. My brother Ronnie and his wife Barb are not too far away and also are there for support.
It’s tough, though, to be so far away and not be able to do more than offer condolences and an ear to listen to him if he wants to talk.
As all this unfolds, the rest of the world watches as Greece implodes and many other parts of the world race for shelter against madmen wrapped in the clothing of extreme religious fever trying to impose a law that would take them back centuries to a time when people carved weapons out of rock.
Then there is a presidential race shaping up that will have everybody except you and me running. When the Donald and his Hair are running for president you know the world of craziness has landed on our shores.
When I think of all these things the contract debate between the Seahawks and Russell Wilson going on in the media seems comical at best. Who really should care other than Wilson and the Seahawks? If that is all the media can find to fill air time, there is something wrong with priorities.
One more thing before I leave you today is – and I can’t believe I’m saying this because I have never been a real friend of soccer – is today’s Women’s World Cup championship match between the United States and Japan. It should be a doozy.
I watched the American women beat Columbia and Germany to reach the finals and even though I am not an expert on the sport I can’t believe how quick the Americans are on the pitch. They are really, really fast and quick.
For that reason, and for that reason only, I think the Americans will defeat Japan to gain revenge for the championship loss to them in 2011 on a shoot-out. If they don’t, it could be a crushing emotional blow to the U.S. women’s program. So I hope they pull it out.
That’s it for today.
Be well pal.
Be careful out there.
Have a great day.
You are loved.