Life goes on, but...

So much has been said about the late Harry Kalas that I feel poorly equipped to add anything besides what my kids have already written. I confess to being a passionate but technically ignorant fan. I can't distinguish between the various breaking balls - heck, I'm happy I recognize that it IS a breaking ball. So I don't worry too much about some of the analysis - I do, however, like thinking about the strategy, and Harry and his colleagues always did provide me with that kind of commentary. But, like my daughter pointed out so eloquently, Harry was the voice, not just of the Phillies, but of summer itself and the feelings we get from watching, talking about, and reading about baseball. Yes, it's related to the beach, taking twilight walks around the neighborhood, and going to Rita's for a water ice, too. But hearing that warm voice on the first spring training game from Florida is what reminds me that a seemingly interminable winter is on its way out. And now we won't hear that voice live anymore.

It seems the Phillies are going to use Harry's homerun call over the PA system for every home dinger - I'm not entirely sure how I'll feel about that. But I'm really happy that I bought the highlights and full World Series games from last season, just to hear his voice tell us about that wonderful run.

Why is it we feel so close to folks like Harry and his late running buddy Richie Ashburn? All I know is that it feels like another door closing on a large part of my life.