The Sun Devil and the Tsunami

December 31, 2004

I've not mentioned it in my writing yet, but the fact of the matter is that my son wears a Sun Devil Uniform.

Ok, so it's what is known as "club" Hockey, but just a week after he did not make tryouts for the football team, I got an emergency request to have all of his hockey gear overnighted to Arizona.

Absent the stick, I was able to accomplish the miraculous and stuffed all of the gear into one moderately sized box. When I took it to the UPS store to overnight I told the woman at the counter that it was 18x18x18 and she kind of smiled and said: "And the bulging?"

"OK, call it whatever you want, it's still one box."

So we pay for him to play, and play he does, one of only 2 freshmen to make the Division 3 team this year.

So this is the deal. Last week Mrs. got an extra week paid on her apartment and rental car, because, as she told the hospital administrators, her new apartment would not be ready till the 8th, and her husband was bringing her car out at the same time.

Such a nice husband.

It's only 1,600 miles and next Wed, right after I put the boy on an airplane back to Arizona, I'll point the car west, put on the cruise control and a CD or two, and off across the country I'll wander.

The plan is to make it there by early Friday evening. I figure I'll cover about 400 miles the first day, and then split the last 1,200 miles on Thursday and Friday.

You see, I need to be there by 7, because the Sun Devils are playing against the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

And here you(and I) though that hockey pics were over and done with.

Ha ha, fat chance, since I'm taking my trusty "rink ladder" out to New Mexico with me.

So, how are you going to connect this all up to the Tsunami?

Well, it works like this.

The world is small, smaller than you might think.

My boy is the one just to the left of center, back row. And right there in the front row, center, is the team captain, the guy with the C on his jersey.

Today the boy (and the team) got an e-mail from him, saying something like "thanks for all the concern, but yes, I was in Thailand, and yes I was on the beach in Phuket, but I was not hurt.

He sent pictures, which, once I have permission, I'll post because they are the best I've seen, clear and sharp and big and they tell the story of just how violent this whole thing was.

He wished the team well in New Mexico, as he won't be back in time for the game.

I wish them well also, along with the rest of you who read here, the best of the year to come.