I'm sad

My speech coach just lectured us about self-disclosure as used in oratory. His basic point was don't do it. Ever. But, I'm a debater and not an orator. I'm sorry to impose this on all of you. But, that being said, I'll do it anyway.

As some of you know, last Saturday my uncle disappeared from his appartment in San Diego. Then on Thursday at about midnight, we got a call from my grandparents that his body had been found in a hotel room in Nevada, where presumably he had stopped on his way to a seminar in Las Vegas. He had died of a heart attack after having a disagreement with his partner about his new job and the training seminar for that job.

Any of you who have lost someone close to you probably know what I'm going through right now, but even if you haven't, it is something like leaving TASPers. Except it is like having the six weeks unexpectedly cut down to two and not having a chance to say goodbye, and there is no AIM.

I suppose coming on the heals of leaving all of you, augmented the sense of loss. All I know is that more than ever I wish I were still at Cornell, not even having to worry about what I would be able to find for my next meal (unless Stan was cooking of course).

Thanks to all of you whom I ambushed on AIM when I got home from school on Friday for giving me your time. Also, to set the record strait for those whom I lied to, we now don't think my uncle drank himself to death: he had been an alcoholic, but had stayed off for at least as long as I have been alive. Fiveteen years ago, my dad couldn't find him, but that time, he was in my grandparents' house (they were on vacation) senseless with empty bottles and blood which he'd thrown up. So when we heard that there was a bottle by his body this time, we immediately thought our worst suspicions were true. Supposedly the bottle was almost full though and my anger was disproportionate to the crime.

However, I'm still angry because my uncle never did anything for his health: he was a chain smoker, he overate and was gaining weight, and he hadn't been to a doctor in 30 years. And then after moving to San Diego from Japan, he quit several jobs on impulse, each move putting him in a more confining position than he had been in before.

Yesterday, the Dodgers and the Angels both clinched playoff spots, thirty minutes apart, both on come from behind victories, the Angels in the eighth inning, the Dodgers on a grand slam in the ninth. My uncle, who used to play baseball with me in my backyard, would have loved this. Here's to a freeway World Series for Dave.