Wainwright is on the mound and the Cox family
evening at the ballpark includes me. What an awesome break (for me) that Dave
has four tickets and two of his three daughters are unwilling or unable to join Dave
and Joyce for this contest between the American League Houston Astros and the
National League St. Louis Cardinals. The oldest, Sammy (Samantha), is home from college and is enjoying quality
family time with the P’s and me (as the fourth wheel) at the game.
Creighton University, located in Omaha, Nebraska, offers a
top-ranked education in
the Jesuit tradition for
people who, no doubt, want to contribute something meaningful to the world.
Sammy is majoring in English. (A win for all of us who champion the pursuit of
liberal arts). She missed out on the dream Summer job and reluctantly works for
her father’s design firm. Dave is delighted to step up her role from routine
filing and errands to proofreading and acting as a copy chief. Dave cannot
contain his pride as he reports that Sammy is ridding his marketing
communications of split infinitives, double negatives and maybe an inadvertent
inappropriate double entendre. The literary purist would probably not like my
assertion that: Without Marketing; Nothing Happens! She might not concur with
copywriters who insist on writing in the language people use (as confirmed by extensive verbatims from focus groups in major markets).
I wonder how Sammy would responds to sports broadcaster
talk. “Well I’ll tell you what… Wain-o
has brilliantly thrown 7 shutout innings…I cannot imagine Matheny not making
the call to the bull pen soon…’cause you cannot afford not getting the ace some
relief from this hot humid St. Louis Summer heat…in June”
Sammy has been to Paris and
the home of Claude Monet in Giverny (about 50 miles from Paris). Monet lived there
from 1883 until his death in 1926. I am so jealous and she confirmed that it is
beautiful and memorable place. I cannot help but suggest she visit the home of
Ernest Hemmingway in Key West. (I’ll leave it to her to figure out why such a
trip stateside makes sense for an English major.)
Parochial as our town is,
Sammy reminds me that the world is really a small place. So, in spite of
Wainwright, the Cards fall to the Astros. We are
among the 44,000+ fans to leave Busch Stadium on a Thursday night thinking the Redbirds will win
the next time.
