April 19, 2007
Apparently George Herman has been forced to live in exile because he vants to be alone. This, after he suffered a traumatizing loss resulting from the paparazzi hounding his second wife and son. But, he emerged from his preferred isolation to run the Boston Marathon this Monday. He did it to raise money for his pet charity, The Baldy Foundation. Baldy is in fact, a disease where one loses his hair and memory. It is a personal crusade for George Herman because his lifelong friend - and now adopted son - Danny Cruz suffers from this tragic condition. Or he did. George's marathon efforts have yielded enough funds for the research to stumble upon the magical cure. So, now Danny Cruz is in his third season with the Texas Rangers - when he isn't starring in major motion pictures like Mission Pitch, a baseball action thriller comedy in which he plays various roles, including his own love interest. He will win an Oscar for his performances - and his directing.
It's amazing what a ten-year-old can conjure to delay the minutes when he must go to bed. Far more amazing is that he will retain all these details on our next meeting and quiz me for the accuracy.
This elaborate mythology, pieced together twice, thrice a week over the past two years is an interesting allegory. To his world. To the pieces of my world I divulge. To the shedding of his childhood and the awkward stumble into adolescence. To his processing of society and the world at large.
It is a gift we give each other. I give it a physical form in the notebooks, index cards, stickers, and other miscellaneous materials to construct a collection of baseball cards, journal entries, maps, speeches, and 'photographs.' He gives me this inimitable story. A story to make me smile, laugh… cry a little, delight, and genuinely enjoy. A story that none of us will ever forget. A story that allows me to forgive and hope…
There are simple pleasures in this life. They surprise me. They are priceless.
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