Bill

Donna's Dad visited this weekend. We had a long conversation about being President of our local union. His presidency was filled with conflicts with what he considered a bellicose administration. We are planning a trip together this summer, this time to Italy. Bill is 79. Up until a couple of years ago he could keep up with my fast pace and still he is a good walker. But after dinner when Donna and I decided to take a little walk, he opted not come with us. His joints are starting to ache. I wonder if a knee operation would do any good.

We were doing the New York Times Sunday Crossword puzzle together. And the name of Homus Wagner came up. It turns out that Bill has a Homus Wagner baseball card from the 1920's as well as one of Babe Ruth. He took the Babe Ruth to a local dealer in Santa Cruz who said that the black and whites were not worth much. I started looking up the prices and it turns out they they are worth quite a bit, probably in the thousands is my guess. He is sending me a photocopy so I can check.

Bill also reads prolificly and has been unloading his store of books on us, as if we needed more books. But it is fun to go through them. He reads widely on politics and culture. He was teaching Spanish at a local adult school but they dropped the class because of not enough sign ups.

We are planning a trip together in June to Italy. He speaks what I consider fluent Italian, but he says that the others in his class are better than he is. We have a great invitation to visit San Benedito, Marche with an old friend of Donna's. Lomberto has offered us an extra apartment that they own and a car. He also promised to show us Italy as an Italian would see it. Bill is talking about also taking his step-daughter, Maya, with us if she wants to go. Rome, Pompey, Hurculeum and Naples are all places I want to see. The last time I was in Rome was 1973. It sounds like a great trip.