An Angelic Day

I'm sitting in the lobby. There is an imposing figure sitting opposite me. We both have something in common. We are armed with cell phones. He's already on his. I punch the redial button.

"I'm in the lobby!"

The voice on the other end is just as brief.

"I'll be right down."

He was. Rory comes into view and spots the guy sitting opposite me. He smiles and says hello. The Hulk like figure says hello back. I'm almost certain I know him. I had seen him in the lobby of a New York hotel a year ago. I ask Rory just to be sure.

"Who is that guy?"

"It's Vlad."

Vladimir Guerrero is having a huge year again. If only he had stayed with the Nats. Rory is Rory Markas the voice of the Angels. He's also a long time friend. We've know each other since our first day of college. That's a long friendship. Whenever the Angels come to Baltimore we get together. It might be breakfast or lunch. Sometimes Kate and I will head up to Baltimore to take in a game and then go out for drinks with Rory after.

This year it's lunch. So I arrive around noon. We walk over to the Inner Harbor. The food isn't important, the conversation, and the reminiscing is important. I plan to be here for an hour, but after about three hours of visiting it's apparent that I'll be heading home in time to hit the evening commute in both Baltimore and Washington D.C..

All of a sudden out of the blue Rory says:

"Hey why don't you do the pre-game show. I do a ten minute interview before the game, how about if I do it with you?"

I can't see why he would want to interview me for a pre-game show. But he has an answer for my puzzlement.

"We'll talk about the Nats, whether or not they've pulled fans from the Orioles. I also want to talk to you about 9-11 since it's the day after."

So I agree. The next thing out of Rory's mouth is this.

"You better call Patty."

Patty is my sister. So I call her with the details. I also call my sister Janet. I figure if I let them know, they'll let everyone else know. On the ride home from Baltimore my sister Janet calls.

"I got in the car, drove over to Mom's, and made her come out to the car to listen."

My mother is in her 90's, so that's no small fete. It means going to her apartment and getting her up and behind her walker. So it took a little bit of effort. Janet is sky high, then she puts my mom on the phone too. She's just as excited.

"I don't get to see you, or hear you. This was great"

So my long time friend had done a couple of things. He got a ten minute interview. He enlightened the people of Southern California about how 9-11 affected our collective psyche here on the east coast. But most of all he gave my mom reason to smile. That's the best gift of all. He truly is a great friend.