My Dear Old Dad

Pop

I've been trying to think of something to write to mark the 9th anniversary of my Pop's death...but I couldn't come up with anything profound, or inspiring.

All's I know is that I miss the man, profoundly. Everytime I hit the golf course with my friends...I can feel him there walking the links. We still expect to see him come round the corner, from the hall into the kitchen...even though we know he won't

He was a good man, or as one of his friends said to me in broken english...he was a straight man. In today's culture that means he isn't gay...but in latin cultures it means he was just, which is a damn fine thing to be.

Love you Pop!

FIGHT ON!

RUN AWAY!!!!

Ah well...all good things must come to an end...and so it did last night for, perhaps the greatest college football team to ever grace the gridiron, the USC Trojans.

The Rose Bowl was theirs to lose, and they did. In grand style. Their defense was as pourus as SpongeBob SquarePants is yellow. And their offense had five opportunities to put the Longhorns in the ol' corral but couldn't get the gate closed.

Oh yeah...and Vince Young for the Longhorns (as if that needed to be said) was beyond phenomenal.

One wishes the game could have gone differently for Matt Leinart, what with staying for his senior year for the expressed purpose of doing what no college football team has done before (win three consecutive national championships). He is a true sportsman and his future is secure.

Reggie Bush had a good game, but probably gave away the store on his fumble, and then later in the game when he flew through the air towards the endzone instead of taking the out of bounds and letting his teammates score. But, that's beside the point. He had a fantabulous year, doing things on the field that will one day be part of football lore.

Lendale White had a great game...one wonders how differently things might have gone if he'd been handed the ball more often.

Such is life. Congratulations to the Longhorns.

Parents Worst Nightmare

Crime Scene - corner of Whittier Blvd, and Boyle Ave., Los Angeles

The picture above is a scene from a horror show that looms in the back of every parents mind and fears.

A young man by the name of Chris Castellanos was mudered by a 22 year-old gang member named Aymar Joshua Torres. Police think the motive may have been robbery. Early reports have said that there may have been a second person involved.

I would like to personally thank the ghost of Tookie Williams and his ilk for their "contribution" to humanity. Though I know that this particular crime can't be lain on his stoop - street gangs in this part of LA have been in existence since before the day - its the larger issue of the value of life that these thugs and half-wits have drained of all meaning, which make scenes like this here in LA, and NYC, Chicago, and even in places like Kansas, commonplace. May you and yours rot in the lowest levels of Hell, Mr. Williams.

So why am I writing this? Because Chris was a friend of my son. Not a close friend, but a friend. They attended the same high school, a small Catholic one, in which the student body is no more than 400 in total. The school is in mourning for the life of this young man, who played sports, participated in student organizations and had a zest for life.

I drove by the spot where he was killed this morning. A makeshift altar has been placed on the corner. There are many candles and pictures of him, put there by his family and friends. I said a prayer for his family, for there is not much more I can do. Chris is gone and they have to live with the terror of their baby not being with them...until the day they die.

As a parent you pray, you teach, and you pray somemore, that your children will be safe and kept from harms way. Everyday is a battle and a worry. You worry when your child leaves the house and the battle comes in wanting to keep them with you forever, so that they are safe, but you can't...you have to let go. And then, in a moment, all that you feared has come to pass. All your hopes for the future are taken away by a damnable human, with no care for you, no care for the life you created and nurtured, no care for the gift you were given.

I'm sorry Mr. and Mrs. Castellanos, for the pain you are going through. As a parent I can only imagine the torture...as if dying a thousand deaths...but I fear the number is infinite. There are no words of consolation, none, that can relieve, if even for a moment, the pain. May the Mother of God, witness to His death, bring you comfort when you need it.

Rest in Peace, Chris.