HELLO!

In case you have not been paying attention, the Milwaukee Brewers are back in the World Series, 44 years later. Back then I was, and still am, a Boston Red Sox fan (most persons my age are Boston sport team fans because cable TV came to our lives as we reached our teenage years and with it came access to Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins and Patriots games, thanks to the Bangor affiliate stations). I cheered for the Brewers as they were a small market team, perpetual underdogs. For all you “bandwagon” Blue Jays fans, Paul Molitor is one of the two iconic Brewer players (Robin Yount) in my lifetime, he later played on World Series Blue Jay teams.

I have been to Milwaukee a few times, once with a former girl friend (Appleton, Wisconsin) and twice with my long-time friend Mark. I met Mark when I volunteered for Habitat for Humanity at their headquarters in southern Georgia. Mark is that rare combination of humans, he is analytical and action oriented. Most people in my world are process people, emotive people, who live in the moment, not worrying about consistency. I think both Mark and I assume “actions speak louder than words”. We are frustrated when emotive words lack follow through. Mark’s insights always include a large dose of humour, he is very funny. His poking at others is tempered by his humble mocking of his own shortcomings. Mark worked for Habitat for decades, his last posting in Springfield, Missouri, where he lives now. Mark retired a few years ago.

One memorable visit to Milwaukee included a bus trip to Chicago, a walking tour of its downtown led by an architect student, time at the Art Institute of Chicago, and some Deep-dish pizza. During that same time Mark took me to a Brewers game with his family, and I still have the banner they gave out to the crowd (in my garage). Those memories, times with old friends, stay with us and become more important to our sense of self and identity as we get older. Mark and I stay in touch. In previous churches Mark participated in faith studies using the ZOOM platform.

Mark sent me with reflection on his Brewers fandom, “I was 25 when the Brewers last went to the World Series in 1982, 44 years and two generations ago. They had a lottery for tickets, and I was selected for a set of four seats in the wooden right field bleachers. We shared the tickets so everyone in the family got to attend one league championship and one Series game. Brewers lost to Cardinals in seven games. We paid face value. This time around, seats start at $1000.”  Friendships are hard to maintain as we get older. We move, our tastes, interests and personalities evolve and with it comes new people. Former friends can disappear. I give thanks for friends like Mark who remain part of my life.

Peace, Kevin

PS At that game I attended in 2002, I witnessed one of the oddest forms of live sporting event entertainment, the Milwaukee Brewers Sausage Race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imISzr8N0-U Perhaps we should do this before our church services begin: a race between members dressed as 1) a squirrel, 2) a pink bunny, 3) a unicorn, and 4) a donkey.