'10'

Bo Derek made the movie ‘10’ in 1979 and while it was pretty good, 10 has another reason that means more to me personally. I penned a blog about Cynthia’s retirement some 10 weeks ago, writing that she had 20 weeks left before the magical day. Now, it’s down to 10. Nobody is happier about it than me, except maybe Cynthia. We can both see light at the end of the tunnel. Ten weeks ago, I wrote, “But, who’s counting?”

So, the countdown is officially on. 10, 9, 8 … using old NY Yankee uniform numbers to make a point of reference: 10 (Tony Kubek’s number which should-be-retired, as far as I’m concerned), 9 (Roger Maris’ retired number), 8 (Yogi Berra’s retired number), 7 (Mickey Mantle’s retired number, 6 (Joe Torre’s soon-to-be-retired-number-as-soon-as-the-Steinbrenner’s do-what’s-right), 5 (Joe DiMaggio’s retired number), 4 (Lou Gehrig’s retired number), 3 (Babe Ruth’s retired number) 2 (Derek Jeter’s number-to-be-retired-number-when-his-playing-days-are-over) and 1 (Bobby Richardson’s old number and Billy Martin’s retired number). Cynthia’s last day is June 5 and we plan to begin celebrating a week earlier by going to The Ballpark in Arlington with our friends Jim and Gwen Patterson to see the Yankees-Rangers play on Memorial Day. We already have the tickets, or, at least, Jim does, but we have plans to meet for brunch with the Pattersons at Cracker Barrel and go to the game. We will be rooting for the Yankees (got that Jim?), even though the Pattersons will be rooting for the other team.

Jim and Gwen are among our closest friends, because we both celebrate the same wedding anniversary (Dec. 14). They attended our wedding, but at the time, we didn’t know it was also their anniversary. Jim has long been a friend of mine since 1963, back to our days at Heavener High School . We had lots of friends there from Heavener, along with many of my friends from Longview , as well as an auditorium-full of Cynthia’s friends from Tyler and our church. Not long ago, Bro. Benny introduced a couple in church that had just been married the day before. He said, “How many can say they got married and went to church the very next day?” Cynthia and I were the only ones to raise our hands. Bro. Benny said, rather sheepishly “Oh, yeah, I remember that.”

BTW, today is my daughter Karen’s birthday. Happy Birthday, sweetheart. (I just wanted to throw that in for good measure.)