Boyhood in Iowa

I have started reading the book by Bill Bryson, titled "The life and times of the Thunderbolt Kid". In January, when Bruce was home and not able to do much John and Geoff, the men from our OUI VINTAGER's WINE group, had wanted to come spend an evening reading excerpts from this book. John had received it for Christmas. He was laughing so hard one afternoon, his wife thought there must be something wrong with him. The author is from Iowa, was born in December of 1951..the same year and month as Bruce. His memoir of boyhood growing up in Iowa is right on the mark. Not only did he grow up in Iowa as did Bruce but, his father worked for the famous sports section of the biggest newspaper in Iowa, The DesMoines Register. The sports section is printed on peach colored paper and is known as 'the peach'. Thus far, I have only read 20 pages of this book and it is about baseball. I probably wouldn't have gotten so excited had it not been for the fact that Bruce also LOVED baseball....maybe just a titch less then he loved me (or maybe even a titch more than me, oh well! ) He loved the TWIN's as a kid...he loved to read the sports section of any paper, but especially 'the peach'. Whenever we were in Iowa on a weekend visiting relatives, he would buy the weekend edition of this newspaper so he could savor the color of the paper, bask in the memories of childhood and reading his favorite writers. Knowing now that the book I am reading was written by probably Bruce's favorite sport's writers son makes me ache just a bit.

In January, when Geoff suggested coming over to read excerpts...Bruce just wasn't up to it. Now I feel bad that he didn't get to hear or read the book that is now going to be placed down at the office when I get finished with it. I KNOW for a fact that he would have loved reading the book. He would have related, remembered and laughed as hard as John did. It is all about the 50's..the years that meant so much to Bruce and to me; it was our childhood.

Baseball and sports were his outlet then and beyond then. He had a photographic memory. He had details beyond details, numbers and stats, wins, momentus victories stashed in his head. Every once in a while, he would recall a moment in history that he had listened to on the radio or seen on tv. His memory banks were full of details from all of these years. As Bill, the author of the book explains; Baseball was the sport back then. It was what all kids in the USA followed. It was before the Superbowl. Yes, there was basketball and there was football. But, it was the WORLD SERIES that kept kids and adults hooked. It is hard for a girl to comprehend just how much history a boy holds in his memory about sports. Games, years, dates, wins, batting averages, baseball card details, who played for who, who got traded to whom! I am trying to comprehend and compare something similar that has been part of my life since I was 8 years old. I don't have anything in my memory that compares to this type of information.

Sometimes I and the kids would give Bruce a bad time about all of this information he had in his head. Since I didn't follow sports and it was details that took place before our boys fell in love with sports; whether it really happened or not was up for grabs. Bruce would be going on and on about some play, some game, some major event... and we would tease him that he was 'feeding us a line'. He would then defend himself saying ....where he add more detail and also where he was at the time this data had happened, etc. etc...

All of this sports talk lately has gotten to me. The newspaper gets delivered every morning and the sports section doesn't get read unless Lance comes over to scrounge some food at lunch. I have tried to open it up and scan it. Bruce used to say to me when he would recognize my ignorance. "Deb, all you have to do is read the sport's section for an entire month and you will know what is going on in the sport's world." and I would say to him, "Bruce, I don't need to know what is going on in the sport's world, because I have you!!"

I went down to the office yesterday and stopped next door. Jeff and Bruce were buddies. Jeff also has an insurance business. He and Bruce became good friends many years ago. They bantered back and forth. Jeff came to drink the coffee Bruce would make every morning. When Bruce became ill, Jeff was devastated. He misses him about as much as I do. So, the other day, when I stopped in his office to say hello, I requested a hug. That is what I am requesting these days from all of Bruce's men friends. I tell them I am "hug deficient". After Jeff hugged me, he was telling me that he and 'the boys' were going to carry on with the College Basketball Pool Tradition that Bruce always ran. Yes, I knew about it, but again, I was on the fringe. As I left his office and went to visit 'my boys' down the hall...I told them "I want to be in on the basketball pool!". ( I am not even sure this if how you say what they are going to do, I am so ignorant when it comes to sport's verbage) Knowing what I was talking about, Lance said, "Mom, yes, you are definitely knowledgable on who is going to win college basketball!" Yes, this was his tease, his loving way of saying "you are so not aware of what is going on in the sports world". I want to feel involved. I want to hold onto a piece of Bruce. This piece has to do with sports. I don't know how or why. I don't need to be an expert. I just feel like it was such a big part of his life and if I just could grasp on to a little of how he felt, I would be comforted.

That thought leads me back to growing up on a farm in Iowa as Bruce and I both did. He used the radio to listen to sports as many boys did back then. I can see him in his room, lying on his bed listening to a game rooting excitedly for his favorite teams. He transferred his love of sports to our sons. Ty used to go out in his car to listen to the Iowa Basketball games. When you live in Wisconsin and you are an IOWA fan...the AM stations from Iowa could be better recieved out in the car! Even if it meant, putting on your hat, gloves and winter parka! Yes, Bruce instilled his love of sports to our sons. And one day....that love will be passed on to our grandchildren I have no doubt. I have discontinued the sports package on our satellite tv. The sports channel doesn't get turned to unless the boys are over. There is no noise coming from our family room that I have to become irritated at as it drifts up the stairs. Yet, Bruce's love of sports will not be forgotten. Fondly and always, Deb