On Friday morning, one of the proudest and most loyal members of our BBN passed away. My 87 yr old grandfather passed after a 3rd go around with cancer. He kicked cancers ass twice and gave up a hellava fight the 3rd time before his body failed his strong mind. If he had been 20 yrs younger with a stronger body, I'm sure he would've kicked its ass this time as well. He was the strongest, bravest, and most generous man that I will ever know. The man was more of a father to me as he raised me since the age of 8 years old. A veteran of WWII as well as the Cuban Missile Crisis, he served his country proudly for over 20 years and earned numerous medals of valor. He was also stationed on the quarantine line during the Cuban missile crisis aboard a Naval destroyer.
I remember countless nights of game watching with him throughout the years. Watching Bowie and Turpin as child to Mashburn and Ford as a young teenager then onto Delk and Mercer as a teenager and all the teams through the years up to this past season has been a lifelong passion for my grandfather and I. Even as an infant we would watch the late 70's teams with me on his lap. Even if we were apart for games, we would almost always talk after games about how they went.
This last loss was extremely difficult for me, I felt it may be the last team that he would get to see, as he started to get sick around February. I prayed and prayed that they would somehow complete this undefeated run because I knew it would give him so much joy and happiness. Although it wasn't meant to be for this team, I am comforted by the hundreds of game nights and 4 titles that we shared throughout the years and I will always save him a seat as I sit down to watch our Cats. He will always have a seat for the games.
So, I thought it would be fitting for me to acknowledge his passion and love for his Cats with my own little tribute to him on here. It just felt necessary for me to honor him this way. Had he been familiar with computers and phones, he would have loved a forum such as this. He loved to talk about the Cats and loved to give his opinion of everything Cats, so I know he would have loved a site such as this. He was just born of another generation before phones and computers ruled our world. So, if ya got a candle around ya, light it up for one of our proudest and truest members. I would be greatly appreciative. Thanks all!
I remember countless nights of game watching with him throughout the years. Watching Bowie and Turpin as child to Mashburn and Ford as a young teenager then onto Delk and Mercer as a teenager and all the teams through the years up to this past season has been a lifelong passion for my grandfather and I. Even as an infant we would watch the late 70's teams with me on his lap. Even if we were apart for games, we would almost always talk after games about how they went.
This last loss was extremely difficult for me, I felt it may be the last team that he would get to see, as he started to get sick around February. I prayed and prayed that they would somehow complete this undefeated run because I knew it would give him so much joy and happiness. Although it wasn't meant to be for this team, I am comforted by the hundreds of game nights and 4 titles that we shared throughout the years and I will always save him a seat as I sit down to watch our Cats. He will always have a seat for the games.
So, I thought it would be fitting for me to acknowledge his passion and love for his Cats with my own little tribute to him on here. It just felt necessary for me to honor him this way. Had he been familiar with computers and phones, he would have loved a forum such as this. He loved to talk about the Cats and loved to give his opinion of everything Cats, so I know he would have loved a site such as this. He was just born of another generation before phones and computers ruled our world. So, if ya got a candle around ya, light it up for one of our proudest and truest members. I would be greatly appreciative. Thanks all!
