Strange things...

My father used to work for Grumman/Northrop Grumman. In the mid-eighties he was part of a top secret team to come up with a stealth fighter. He, and a bunch of others, went to California to work with another company and compete against two other companies.

He went to California in April, 1985, when I was in 7th grade. I spent that summer (in between 7th and 8th grades) out there with him and had a blast. It was that summer that I started bike riding long distances with his boss on bike paths similar to the one pictured here.

When that summer was over, I came back east to continue school. Without my father around, and being in a different school (long story to be continued later, maybe), I didn't fare so well in the new surroundings.

In January, 1986, I was pulled out of that school and I moved out to California to live there. I enrolled in middle school out there and did fabulously. In three months time I was on the honor roll. Shortly after that, I had my accident. There was a certain amount of luck being injured just south of Los Angelee because I was near one of the best rehab hospitals in the country, Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center.

Strange things happen...maybe for a reason.

N.Y. Mets

So, here I was, a New Yorker in Dodger country (strange, also, that they were once a N.Y. team) during that epic year for the Mets...1986. I felt so removed from N.Y. and didn't really fit in.

Being just outside of L.A., they didn't show (or want to watch) the Mets on t.v. during the playoffs. So I'd wheel myself around in my wheelchair with a boombox on my lap, listening to the games. Then, some of the games I'd catch if I got a weekend pass. I know I saw one or two of the world series games on t.v. at a party.

It seemed fitting that my father sent me a video today referencing those Mets. It was of Connie, the owner of Finn MacCool's in Port Washington, recapping his experiences with those Mets of 1986. Port was the home to quite a few of the Mets because of the easy ride in on the train. Darryl Strawberry, just lived down the block from my house.

This is one of the reasons I love Finn's so much.

Here is that video. Enjoy!