Thanksgiving-time 2008

Back in 2002, my son Shane (center) played Babe Ruth All Stars with Mike (left) and Tim (right) Dewhurst. This is a photo taken at the Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament in Galt, California (near Lodi).

(The photo below is of my son, Shane (right), with Mike Dewhurst- taken December 2, 2008).

On Tuesday, Shane and Ryan drove up from San Gabriel Valley to spend Thanksgiving with us.
After visiting with each other for a bit, Shane said that he had some bad news: our mutual family friend, Tim Dewhurst (age 23), was killed in a car accident. Tim and Shane had played a lot of baseball together - including the 2002 World Series "Dukes"Team that went to Stamford, CT. Shane had also played on the same team as Tim's brother, Mike in the 2000 Babe Ruth World Series in Moses Lake, WA, which they won.

Mike & Tim's dad, Pete had become our friend. He helped our family by repairing the "BIG RED" Chevy truck which has been passed around the family. We have some good memories with the Dewhurst family both on and off the baseball field, like getting on a bus in San Francisco and Pete handed out tickets using a (non-politically correct) fake Chinese language. I laughed so hard that I cried. During that same trip, Shane, Tim & Mike spent a good amount of time spitting off the Golden Gate bridge and watching how the air currents would catch it before gravity took hold. The photo below shows the partners in crime!

I clearly remember the time that Scotty Nestor (one of the Dukes' teammates on the Stamford, CT team) told off Bobby Valentine, who was the coach of the New York Mets at the time and Pete defended him. Tim, Pete, Shane and I went to New York City (with the rest of the parents and teammates) and one of the stops that we made was "ground zero" for the World Trade Center only 11 months after September 11, 2001. It was a somber moment that we shared. We later ate at a McDonalds that was 2 stories with a guy playing on a grand piano upstairs! (only in NYC!)

On Tuesday, December 2, 2008, I drove to LA County to meet Shane. After lunch at his old work (Islands Restaurant in West Covina), we went to Pomona First Baptist Church for Tim Dewhurst's memorial service. There was about 1000 people in attendance. The service was very special. Several of Tim's friends spoke and his brother, Mike, said that Tim wanted the best for every person he met. In fact, Tim saw the best in others and tried to help them be their best. Mike had the song, "Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton played. That's when I started to sob. Would you know my name if I saw you in heaven... cause I know I don't belong.. here in heaven (some of the lyrics).

One of the moments that touched me in the memorial service was the pastor read from Tim's Bible. It said a lot about this fine young man with the things that were marked and noted in his scriptures. He said that B.I.B.L.E. stands for Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth. How ironic he would write that. And from the things I heard at the service, Tim did his best to live his life accordingly.

We went to the graveside service and met up with Charlie Paz (one of the Dukes coaches), David Uribes (who was on two of the same World Series teams as Shane) and Scott Nestor (who was released by the Florida Marlins organization and was picked up by the Philadelphia Phillies). The photo shows these MEN (no longer boys) at the cemetary. (L-R, Shane, Scott, Charlie, and David).

Shane (#19), Scotty Nestor (the tall one) and David Uribes (directly beside Shane) - at the State Tournament in July of 2000. These boys were 16 at the time!

Shane and Charlie Paz after winning the 2000 16 & under Babe Ruth World Series in Moses Lake, Washington.

We were invited to the family home after the graveside service for Tim. There we got to hug the family. Mike gave Shane a big hug and then realized that I was standing there. After our own big hug, we both said that it was so wonderful to see each other, even under these circumstances. I was glad to be there for Shane, for Dewhurst family and to honor Tim's memory. I needed to be there for myself as well. I can't even begin to understand the depth of hurt that the family must be feeling right now. In less than 6 months, this is the second set of parents that I know that have had to bury their child (even though they're adults when they passed). I wish I could take the pain away for them, but I know that I can't. I hurt for them!

Happier times. (Left to right: Pete, Mike, Shane, Tim, & Stan) in San Francisco, July 2002.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So back to the details of our Thanksgiving: we went for a ride at Dove Springs before returning home for Thanksgiving Dinner. It had rained the day before so we HAD to find some puddles!

This was Ryan's first time riding! He did a great job and I think we've got him hooked!