It breaks your heart…

One of my favorite passages of writing comes from the mind of A. Bartlett Giamatti. Many people remember him as the commissioner of baseball that banned Pete Rose, but to me he’ll always be a thoughtful man that had a way with words, much like Stephen.

I first heard this piece during the 1989 World Series, a series that many remember for the interruption caused by the Loma Prieta earthquake but that Stephen and I prefer to remember as the series won by the Oakland A’s. As I sit here on this Saturday morning, in a state of suspended disbelief, I thought back to the first time I heard James Earl Jones reciting this passage:

“It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops. Today, October 2, a Sunday of rain and broken branches and leaf-clogged drains and slick streets, it stopped, and summer was gone.”

Every year when the A’s ended their season I would think back to this passage, but never before has it felt more appropriate than now.

One of the things we’d like to try and get together for the family is a scrap book of people’s memories, recollections and pictures of Stephen. We’d love for you all to take a moment and, either in the comments section of this thread or you can email them to eric@savingstephen.com, spend some time jotting down your thoughts, memories and recollections of Stephen.

Thank you.

Memorial Service

A memorial service will be held Friday November 20th at 1:00pm at Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church for Stephen Shirley. Please come to help us celebrate Stephen’s life, which has touched and impacted all of our own in an amazing way. We all love and miss him dearly, but rejoice that he is now with the Father and is free of the burdens he has born for the past 3 years.

Sad News…

Dear friends of Stephen,

I hoped I would never have to write this post.

I prayed that I would never have to write this post.

But sometimes, the Lord makes other plans.

It is my sad duty to let you know that our dear friend Stephen went home to the Lord last night. Please keep Rosemary, his family and all of his friends in your prayers as we mourn the passing of a good man.

I regret I have no other information at this time, but I’m sure there will be some in the following days.

Regretfully,
Karen Churchill Garcia