MarylandBein...	Male 3 years old FREDERICK, MD
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So, like perhaps I assume most of you reading this today, you have been walking around in a dismayed-hate-filled-this-can’t-be-happening-semi-coma for the last few days. The RAYS are beating our SOX. Blasphemy!!

Yes, tonight I think fits neatly into that little corner of sports phraseology, often times overused, which includes the term MUST WIN game. Least I feel that way. Without the last 2 of a possible 7 game series being played at the FENS, my hunch is that TONIGHT is the night.

I must confess, sadly, I’ve been not the best fan these past few days. Doubts have crept into my mind -- Doubting Tito for staying with Beckett too long, screaming at Tek for not being able to get the bat on the ball to score a conceded run, and being angry with Papi for, well, just not being Papi.

Alas though – My mind is clear for the big game tonight – I have TOTAL FAITH. This faith is not based on anything I can put my finger on, or attributable to some supernaturally-induced mindset, but, rather, on the events of the past couple of days. For me, this faith has somehow been restored by my "life" being interrupted.

You see, yesterday I attended a wake for the mother of a dear friend of mine. His name is Don. Don’s mother, Connie, died Thursday after valiantly battling cancer for a number of years. Don and I have known each other since high school. Sadly, as I am sometimes reminded by my often times achy bones, this encompasses a time span of more than 30 years. In my youth, I had the pleasure of having dinner with Don and his family many times, and I think every single time Connie cooked her WORLD FAMOUS lasagna. Boy, the memories….The memory of taking prom pictures in Don’s front yard before we took our dates to the prom. The memory of being the best man in Don’s wedding and cracking up Don’s parents during my speech. Yep, I told Don yesterday that they are having one hell of a lasagna dinner up in heaven tonight!!

My life was also a bit "interrupted" today as well. About an hour ago I "scooped" out some cremation remains of my brother John from the container they came in. He died this spring. He was young, barely 58. I packed up these remains to mail to California so that his ex-wife could spread them in places John used to love. Oddly, almost surrealistically, this task was emotionally manageable. I must say I had the funny feeling that my brother John was looking down on me from heaven, while I scooped out mostly ash, and some tiny pieces of bones. I swear he was smiling and laughing, thinking, "Look what I’ve caused my little brother to be doing today…."

So, likely not unlike many of you, my life this week has been "interrupted." While this "life stuff" can be tough, upsetting, and maybe even a bit uncomfortable, it is, after, life. Just life.

So, with a game tonight from Fenway, and my head now cleared, I can sit back, grab a beer or two, and cheer for my beloved Red Sox. Because, now I see, my mind is clear once again. I have TOTAL FAITH.

THANKS LIFE.