She Shared Her Ice Cream With Poppee

This past Saturday my daughter (Child B) was given a baby shower in anticipation of the arrival of our Grandchild #2, debuting sometime in July.  The baby shower was attended by many, and was a great success, but alas, it lasted for some time longer than Baby Baby's attention span.  As the games and festivities came to an end, and the young couple began open gifts (yes, apparently MEN can now go to these affairs...but I digress) Baby Baby (our first grandchild) reached the end of her attention span.

At this point my lovely bride suggested that I find Baby Baby some "juice," which is the baby's code word for almost any liquid, except water, which she must be coerced to drink.  So I searched the location of the baby shower but failed to find any "juice" except for some water, which of course Baby Baby will not drink except when stranded in the Sahara for a couple of weeks.  Having found no "juice" in this locale, I took Baby Baby across the street to get a small root beer for her at a nearby fast food place. 

Since this was a fairly busy road, I carried Baby Baby across the street while instructing her to look both ways for cars.  But Baby Baby instantly recognized a red oval sign with two large white letters and yelled, "We're at the ICE CREAM STORE, Poppee!"  I said, 'Yes, Baby, we ARE at the ice cream store!"  Baby Baby said, " I want 'nilla!"  I assured her that we would indeed get some "nilla" ice cream.  Baby Baby said, "We can share 'nilla, Poppee!"  I said, "Sweetie, you can have your OWN ice cream, and Poppee can have ice cream."  Baby Baby said, "NO, Poppee!  You share LEAH'S ice cream!"  I asked if she wanted her own dish of ice cream and she again said, "NO! Leah share with Poppee!"

It was a touching moment, a near tear-jerking moment.  My little Baby Baby wanted to share HER ice cream with her Poppee.  So we went to the counter and ordered one small root beer and one medium dish of ice cream, um...with TWO spoons.  We had one of the best times together in her short life as we shared ice cream, bite for bite.  Then Baby Baby said, "Let's go to the park!"  At first I thought she meant that she wanted to go play at the park, but I soon learned differently. 

Baby Baby finished a bite of ice cream then "walked" her spoon across the table and to the half wall that separated the sections of the restaurant.  Then she walked her spoon up the wall and to the top.  Once at the top. Baby Baby let the spoon "slide" down the wall.  "I am SLIDING," shouted Baby Baby, "You slide TOO, Poppee!" 

Well, I grabbed my spoon and "walked" it to the wall, climbed the wall, and "slid" down.  Leah yelled, "Yea, Poppee! Now I go again!"  When Baby Baby slid down the wall one more time, she announced that it was once again time for ice cream.  We took a couple of bites, then Baby Baby yelled, "SLIDE, Poppee!!"  SO we walked our spoons to the park, climbed the slide, and then went for ice cream.  We repeated this action several times, then, lo and behold, the ice cream was gone.

I said, "Look Baby Baby, we are all out of ice cream!"  Leah said, "It was fun sharing ice cream with Poppee, and we played at the park."  I gave my little sweetie a BIG hug.  I told her, "I am so glad you shared your ice cream with me, Baby Baby, and I am glad we got to go to the park!"  At this point Leah announced that she wanted her "juice," the root beer.  I let her have a few drinks of root beer, but then the telephone rang.  We were wanted back at the Dojo, my daughter's and son-in-law's mix-martial arts school.  We walked back across the street and into the Dojo.

By this time the festivities were over and everyone soon went his or her separate ways.  As I drove home with my lovely bride, I was so full of joy and happiness.  My little Baby Baby WANTED to share her ice cream with me.  Her little angel face had such a beautiful smile all the way through our dining experience.  She was so proud to have shared her ice cream with me.  I think it was the high point of her day, and I know it was such a special time for me.

Baby Baby, as all babies do, will soon grow out of her childhood, will soon be a school girl, then a teen, then all grown and out in her own world.  That is why these kinds of moments are so special.  People always told me that my babies would be grown "before I knew it."  Well, that was certainly the case, and now, I tell Child B and my new son that their babies will be grown in such a short time, such a very short time.  I am not trying to scare them, only tell them of my own experience.  Special moments, like sharing ice cream with a small little girl, will be such fleeting moments, and soon gone...but the sweet, precious memories will remain.

I love my little Baby Baby, and her sweet parents.  And I love my little Baby Derrick already.  I can't wait for him to get here!!

Justify and Michael Smith: 2018 Triple Crown Winners

Some of my favorite sports events are the three horse races that make up the Triple Crown: the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes.  I like these events even more when one horse wins the first two races, which means that there will be a chance for a Triple Crown!  So, Justify was that horse, and the Preakness was that race.  By the time Justify had taken the posts I was hyped for the possibility that Justify would win the Triple Crown.  The three or so weeks between the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes could not pass fast enough!

As the time for the Preakness drew nearer and nearer, the talking heads began their nay-saying, right on schedule.  First, there was Justify.  He had proven himself in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, as a horse that could run a fast race in the rain, and as a sprinting horse.  BUT...the Preakness was a long race, in fact the longest in the Triple Crown, at a mile and a half.  Sure, Justify could run fast, and could keep his footing in terrible conditions...but, could he pace himself for a long race, not burn out before the finish, yet not fall behind so far that he could not catch up at the end?  And the general consensus was that Justify would run himself out at the 1 3/4 mile mark.  Well, okay...

Then there was the jockey.  Michael Smith, who had ridden Justify in both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, was 52 years old.  As one reporter put it, Smith was in his "twilight years" as a jockey.  Michael Smith, however, was not just any jockey.  He had ridden other Crown Jewel winners and was, in fact, a member of the jockeys' hall of fame.  Nonetheless, the talking heads declared Michael Smith was too old to ride, at least, too old to ride well enough to win the Belmont Stakes.  There were so many much younger men in the race, younger men who had more stamina to endure this, the longest race in the Triple Crown.  Apparently Smith's resume and experience were not enough to counter the man's age; at least that's what the talking heads would have us believe.  

Yes, the talking heads were persuaded that the Justify/Smith duo had basically a fifty-fifty chance at the Belmont Stakes.  But when the gates opened, Justify was the first horse out, got a length ahead, and never looked back.  The first quarter mile was fast by Belmont standards, but Justify had a lead and Smith let him settle into a Secretariat-like stride for the next half of a mile.  The field behind Justify was very dynamic, as riders jockeyed in and out, battling for second place...because, first place was never in question.  In the last half mile only one horse closed to just a few feet behind Justify, but that is when Michael Smith let Justify have his head, and Justify really kicked in the after-burner!  The race was over at that point - Justify crossed the line with a clear lead and plenty of power to spare.  What a race!

Justify, ridden by a jockey in his "twilight years," was the newest Triple Crown winner, the first since 2015, when American Pharaoh won all three races.  Incidentally Justify and American Pharaoh were both trained by the same person, Bob Baffert.  With today's Triple Crown win, Baffert becomes the only trainer to have TWO Triple Crown winners in his curricula vitae.  

Congratulations to Bob Baffert, Michael Smith, and most of all, to Justify, for bringing in the Triple Crown!  Although it was only three years between American Pharaoh's Triple Crown and Justify's win of the Triple Crown today, there was a drought of THIRTY-SEVEN YEARS from the previous Triple Crown win by Affirmed. Will there be a Triple Crown winner in 2019?  That stats say that's not likely.  But today, what a great race!  And I am already geared up for next year's Triple Crown of horse racing!

May God bless all of you

And God bless America