As a final note, I’d like to send out my condolences to the Miller Family, particularly Ben, Allison, Gretchen and Chip. You see, Mrs. Cheryl Miller, the matriarch of the Miller clan on Wheatland Ave. here in Lancaster, Pa., passed away on Tuesday.
I grew up down the street from the Millers and often turned their home into an annex of mine. So did the rest of the kids from the neighborhood where we would take over to watch the big game, fight, movie or just hangout or whatever. Frankly, it says a lot about a family if everyone from the ‘hood wants to hang out at their home. For one it means they probably had a pretty good sense of humor about having a veritable bee hive of kids running in and out, and for another, it means people felt welcomed.
Undoubtedly Mrs. Miller fostered that atmosphere. She loved having her kids around and if they brought their friends or the rest of the block along, too, all the better. Now that I’m damn-near an old man and have my own kids, I’m hoping to one day copy off Mrs. Miller and open up my home and family to whomever my kids drag in from the outside.
Mrs. Miller sure had the kindness and the generosity market cornered in these parts. That's a trait anyone should want to copy.
So in times like these it’s very difficult not to think about how much fun we had with certain people and feel sad that those we shared those great times with are no longer among us. Mrs. Miller was a tremendous lady who raised some pretty damn good kids, including my friend Ben (probably has been the subject of earlier posts on this site), who just so happens to be the best Phillies fan I know.
I’m not smart enough to know much about praying, and I’m not, by any means a subscriber of any particular religion, philosophy or the afterlife, but I’m going to take a little solace knowing that somewhere Mrs. Miller is surrounded by a whole bunch of people having a really good time.
As in heaven just as on earth, of course.