Family (continued)

A Distant Cousin Plays Baseball

Verla, my mom's cousin,
wrote that her nephew, Chris
played baseball for Arizona.

Sport afficienado, I sought him
on their website.
Pleasant surprise.
They were playing here in April.

Dashed off a quick e-mail to their coach:
"Could Chris come to a family dinner?"


Out of the blue, Verla called.
Arizona wanted to know:
"Were we really relatives?"
...before giving permission.

Days before the games,
a cell phone call...
"Hi!  This is Chris!
Can we meet for lunch?
I have time Friday."

Mount Rainier in the backdrop,
my brother, his son and I sit
in sun-drenched stands
hardly containing our pride
in the young left-fielder.

Autographing balls for kids,
doubling off a runner.
We watch a rising star in our family..
no matter how many galaxies removed.


Barbo
Jesse, Habitat voluneteer retires.
Clown wannable,
she calles cousin Barbo
for advice.

"Barbos's a gentle clown!" she reprots.
White, borad-faced smile,
surrounded in yellow folds and flowers.
Her high squeaky voice
delights kids at parades.

Jesse, gentle clown protege,
cultivates wishes and laughter
in impoverished Guatamalan
and Costa Rican children.

*  Chris Frey played outfield for the University of Arizona and later in the Colorado Rockies system.  He's currently in the  Philidelphia Phillies system.  Verla Moser is his aunt and my mom's cousin.


*  Barbo is Barbara Mendoza, the daughter of my Aunt Margaret "Toots" Mendoza.  She's a professional clown who actually attended clown college.  


* Jesse Strauss,  a great friend and former co-worker,  leads a Habitat for Humanities team each year to build homes for poor families in different parts of the world.