Gene's Blog: A '91 Volvo and the meaning of everlasting life

July 01, 2009

The Vikings are preparing to sign a Green Bay Packer legend.

The Timberwolves picked three point guards in the first round of the NBA draft.

Norm Coleman and Al Franken are saying nice things about each other.

Let me be the latest to suspend reality. For today, let’s drive this humble blog off the beaten path of college sports. Instead let’s ponder mainstream topics.

One of the reasons we escape to the sports world is that it doesn’t present “life or death” consequences. But on occasion, we’re forced to ponder life and death. We're forced to consider the meaning of our existence.

Death has been on a roll lately.

The Twin Cities and UST’s St. Paul Seminary lost a soldier and a saint (Father Tim Vakoc).

Hollywood lost an Angel (Farah Fawcett) and the king of Second Bananas (Ed McMahon).

America lost the king of TV ad pitchmen (Billy Mays).

Iowa lost a king among high school coaches (Ed Thomas).

The music/entertainment world lost the King of Pop (Michael Jackson).

For one measure of the magnitude of last week’s events, peruse the covers of Time, People, Newsweek… even Sports Illustrated. Those national magazines documented the sudden passing of icons Michael Jackson and Ed Thomas, who came from different worlds.

The talented but troubled Jackson, who lost his childhood days in Gary, Ind., created a fantasy world called Neverland. The focused Thomas lost half of his small town to a tornado, yet emerged as the community’s symbol of hope as he preached a mindset known as “Never quit.”

Class of 1976

For those of us born in 1958, a few of those deaths hit close to home. In an eerie fate, actor Bernie Mac, pitchman Mays and music’s Jackson all reached age 50, but never made 51. All three died suddenly and shockingly -– Mac of pneumonia last August, while Mays and Jackson passed last week, apparently of heart attacks.

The collective high school Bicentennial Class of 1976, involving people born between September 1957 and September 1958, includes an unusual number of music superstars:

--Cuban-born Gloria Estefan (90 million albums sold) was born Sept. 1, 1957

--Donny Osmond (nine Gold albums) was born Dec. 9, 1957.

--England’s Andy Gibb (three No. 1 hits) was born March 5, 1958, and died in 1988 at age 30.

--Minneapolis’ own Prince Rogers Nelson (11 top-3 hits) was born June 7, 1958.

--Madonna (12 No. 1 hits) was born Aug. 16, 1958.

--Belinda Carlisle (Go-Gos lead singer, four top-10 hits) was born Aug. 17, 1958.

--Michael Jackson (14 No. 1 hits) was born Aug. 29, 1958.

Yet in one of life’s ironies, in this decade, it was Mays (born July 20, 1958) whose voice received more TV air time. He’s one of the few people to appear on the Tonight Show as guests of hosts Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien. Baseball's Willie Mays was known for his bat and his glove. Billy Mays was known for his pitch.

Father Tom, Father Tim

I was reminded last night of another member of the Class of ’76 who’s now with our Lord.

As my wife and I watched family videos, we came across our son George’s First Communion mass, held in April 2007 at Eagan’s St. Thomas Becket Church. The video camera captured Geroge as he came to the Lord’s table and received communion from Father Tom Brioschi. We also have a posed photo of Father Tom with George taken after the mass.

St. Thomas Becket died a martyr on Dec. 29, 1170, and was canonized a Saint two years later. The Eagan church that bears his name was founded in October 1989 as the population grew rapidly in northern Dakota County. Tom Brioschi, a St. Paul native and graduate of Cretin-Derham Hall (’76) and St. Thomas (’80), was just the second pastor to guide our parish.

Father Tom was diagnosed with cancer early in 2007 yet rarely missed Sunday mass and his pastoral duties. When he died Dec. 28, 2007 at age 49, one day before the feast of St. Thomas Becket, he left behind many friends and admirers, and a stunned parish.

A statue honoring the two Toms –- Thomas Becket and Thomas Brioschi -– now adorns our parish gathering center.

Father Tom’s passing was the second tragedy to strike an Eagan parish. A priest who previously served at St. John Neumann, Tim Vakoc, was an Army chaplain who was sent to Iraq to minister the troops. On the 12th anniversary of his priesthood, having just offered Mass to soldiers in Iraq, Father Tim’s jeep was hit by a roadside bomb. He suffered traumatic head injuries, was in a coma for six months, and eventually came to live in a care facility, fittingly, in a suburb named New Hope.

Father Tim had several surgeries and battled infections. He slowly began to recognize family and friends, and later began to communicate with squeezes of the hand or slight smiles. In the fall of 2006, he spoke for the first time in more than two years. But on June 20, Tim Vakoc died, at age 49.

PHOTO: Mike Ekern took this photo of Tim Vakoc and his mother, Phyllis, for a 2008 St. Thomas Magazine story

Life everlasting 

As a parent comforting children during a month of plane crashes and premature deaths, I was reminded that faith and fate are tricky concepts to explain.

For a spiritual lift in times of grief and sadness, I often pray and ask God to reveal tangible signs of hope and inspiration. A cardinal sometimes lands on my deck. More than once, a $5 bill has sat in the grass waiting for me to pounce.

On Tuesday, as I drove up Interstate 35E toward St. Paul, another sign seemed to come from God (or possibly his able assistant, Father Tom?)

There in my rear-view mirror was a grey Volvo station wagon. With some quick detective work, driving for a few miles closely behind, then alongside this vehicle, I was able to confirm that this wasn’t just any grey Volvo… but the exact 1991 Volvo 740 turbo wagon I owned from 2000-2005. That was the U.S. flag decal on the back right panel that I slapped on the glass in 2001 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The bumper still sagged. The windows were rolled down, meaning the air conditioning probably never was fixed by the man from White Bear Lake who bought it from me on Carsoup.com.

It was like those stories of a lost dog that found its way home, or the prodigal son returning. If that faded 19-year-old Volvo with 160,000-plus miles is still cruising up and down 35E, there’s hope for the world. 

God's latest revelation: A turbo wagon for turbulent times.

The scripture passage on life everlasting rings true. It’s true for 50-year-old entertainers with soul, and 49-year-old priests from Eagan who saved souls. It’s true for graying football coaches from Iowa, and even true for old grey Volvo station wagons.

Someday, it’ll all make sense, and perhaps we’ll all mingle in a place like heaven. And if they really do issue long white robes, at least Billy Mays will be there with OxyClean to keep everyone looking their best.

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Click here to read a cover story on Ed Thomas in this week’s Sports Illustrated magazine:

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1157377/index.htm

Click here to read a spring 2008 St. Thomas magazine story on Father Tim Vakoc:

http://www.stthomas.edu/magazine/2008/Spring/GodsHand.html