Family Brunch

Today is party day!

First there was a terrific family brunch at South City Limits - Barb and Sharon and all of Barb's kids. Who was there? Dick&Nan, Sharon, Shelly, Chris, Adam&Melanie and Lydia, Barb&Jim, Peter&Melissa and Autumn and Brooke. We had a couple of hours of a really great time. They gave us a gorgeous centerpiece - it's so festive and Christmasy - it looks great on the dining room table.

The Concord Place Christmas party came next. Unfortunately, Mother was not feeling well enough to go down to Party Central. so Dick made a few trips dowstairs to fix her a plate, get her some coffee, etc. She hasn't been feeling well for several weeks now - it seems to be a gastro-intestinal issue of some sort.

Whew!

Land therapy is better than aqua therapy. Why? Because when you're finished you're not dripping wet walking through a fitness center to a cold locker room, and taking 20 minutes to dry off, shiver and change. The machines are fun, the routines are not too difficult, and I think I'll really enjoy the next 3 weeks of therapy. This morning was only the second session, so I don't really notice much difference yet, but I have high hopes.

This afternoon was our adventurous trek, taking Mom to the dentist for an extraction. We were both more stressed out about this than we realized. Things went quite smoothly - the new wheelchair performed well. We rented a Chrysler 300, because it seemed like the best vehicle for moving the most easily from wheelchair to seat....our Subaru is too small and the Explorer is too big! The Chrysler was a great choice.

Dr. Whiting did a marvelous job of keeping everybody calm and happy. After it was all over, Mother didn't even realize that the tooth was already out. She's such a trooper - I know it was a stressful event for her. She kept saying "That wasn't so bad". We're all very relieved that it's over.

CacheApalooza

While we were at the Merry Bowling meet and greet, 1255 miles away, in Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Florida, Laurie, Chip and Dylan were at the camping weekend called CacheApalooza. I looks to me like they had a great time.

Dylan is in the blue T shirt - he's the tallest one. Two of the others are Lainie and Ty, and the third is mystery boy. Dylan is the cutest.

Here is Laurie's log:

Thanks to everyone who made this well organized event possible. We enjoyed every minute. Our group of kids had a fantastic time finding their own treasure cache, and I jumped for joy when my number was called for the Garmin GPS. Thanks!

Merry Bowling

Bowling? We don't do bowling! But we had a great time at the NMG meet and greet in South Boardman today. It was much fun to see everybody and enjoy some great conversations. It was great seing Tim and Susie - it's been a while since we've seen them. Tim won the trophy for the highest bowling score. Very impressive.

There was a Secret Santa gift exchange and a raffle. We got lots of goodies, the absolute best being a whole raft of chocolate chip cookies. Frank and Peggy agreed to stop by next Wednesday for cookies and coffee.

Here is Dick's log of the event:

Thanks Beth for getting us together, it was nice to see the Jedi and the Princess. Thanks Ray and Lydia for the raffles, and everyone who brought a gift or donated to the prize tables, we had a great time. Believe it or not, we bowled almost as well as we did when we were in our teens. It was great to see everyone and watch the experts in action, Katelyn is definitely a champ. We apologize to anyone we didn't get a chance to talk and wish a Merry Christmas to. We certainly enjoyed the conversations that we had. We spent the ride home sharing the stories we gathered from everyone. If anyone wants to drop in for milk and cookies, we're ready.

Mom Has Wheels/ Here Comes Christmas

This was the day we put up Christmas. The tree looks very nice! The house is as decorated as it will be. It's fun to go through the Christmas things, make decisions, and cherish the memories they elicit. Dick put lights on a tree outside the living room so we can enjoy it every evening. That tree is really beautiful. It's a good feeling to have everything finished.

We went to visit Mom today - we took her some boots, pictures of Jace's visit, and some photo Christmas cards that she can send to family. But the big item was her new wheelchair.

To assist in the transfer next Thursday, Dr. Auer, her primary care physician, wrote a prescription for a wheelchair and she will be reimbursed by Medicare and Blue Cross. Mom is very happy to have her own wheelchair, and she wants it stored in her room so no one will take it ! It's a transfer chair - it has small wheels, not the big wheels that the patient turns by hand. Her hands would not be able to turn those wheels anyway. She will always need someone to push it for her.

Springing the Buccal Plate

When I was in college one of my summer jobs was working as a dental assistant in a Kiwanis Club free dental clinic. I had no training at all, so the dentist explained everything in the office very specifically and efficiently, and even quizzed me during the down times. That's how I know that when Mother goes to have her tooth pulled, her dentist will be springing the buccal plate. Buccal means the cheek side of the tooth, and the plate is the jaw.

Mother has an appointment on Dec. 14th for her to go to the dentist and have the bad tooth extracted. She wants it out, but she is naturally nervous about leaving the building, and also about having her tooth pulled. She is expecting "agony". We have tried to comfort her, and explain that she will be numbed up, etc. We've made sure that she has her good winter coat, boots, gloves and hat in case of bad weather. Cross your fingers.

Will There Be Any Stars In My Crown?

Snow, snow and more snow. We now have snow tires on both vehicles, and it's a lot more comfortable driving around. We went to UPS today and shipped the Christmas packages to Florida. Now we're ready to put up the tree, decorate the house, and write the Christmas cards.

Mother's dentist made a home visit this evening after supper to evaluate her teeth. She needs to have a tooth extracted and some other work done. He called in a prescription for an antibiotic for her to take to help avoid infection from the procedure. We have an appointment next Thursday, Dec. 14th at 2 p.m. I think it's remarkable that a dentist would go out of his way like that for an elderly patient. His Grandma is in Birchwood, so he is very understanding and willing to help. He has another star in his crown. Will There Be Any Stars In My Crown by Seldom Scene

This week Dylan's toughest spelling word is reservation. Others are suggestion and conclusion. He has reservations about taking this test. My suggestion is that he'll be glad to see the conclusion of the test!

Michael Moore & Max in T.C.

An Old Favorite

I've been experimenting with audio and video on the blog. Rhapsody.com seems to work the best so far for audio, and YouTube for video.


City Of New Orleans by Seldom Scene

One More Day

There will be only one more day of aqua therapy. After Friday, I will graduate to "land therapy". Tom says I'll be a land shark - remember that on SNL?

Here is the lovely Premier Fitness Center, home of my therapy pool. (Oh by the way, we got quite a bit of new snow today and the roads were horrible.)


Here is our beloved pool. You were expecting maybe Olympic size?


This is Kari, my intrepid therapist. She knows everything about muscles and stretching and strengthening, and she's chock full of good tips for me.


Kari and Lisa, another therapist - they are all very pleasant.

Here's photographic evidence that I do actually have a swim suit, and I really do get into the pool, so there. The shirt comes off when I get into the pool, but for pictures, not so much.

Family Day @ Concord Place

One day after the big snow storm, it was a beautiful, sunny day with a bright blue sky. Jim drove up from Saginaw to visit Mother, and he brought along Dan, Pam and 18 month old Jace! What a treat it was to see them all!



Here's Mother holding Jace (quote "He's Heavy!) with Dan ready to grab him at any second.



While we were all there, Rick and Mary came in with Uncle Fritz and Aunt Ruth. Fritz and Ruth have moved to assisted living and aren't on the road any more, so when Rick and Mary come to town they always bring them to visit Mother. Fritz is Mother's only brother, and he's now 90.



A fun family "crowd shot" - Pam with Jace, Dan, Dick and Jim. Jace will be a big brother before he's two years old. The new baby is due in April, and Jace will be two on May 1.



Rick, Dan and Fritz:


Cousins Rick and Mary with Mother - thanks Rick, for bringing Fritz and Ruth to our impromptu Christmas gathering!


Dan's family meets Great-Grandma - Mother was very happy to meet Pam and Jace.


Thank you Jim, for bringing everybody to Traverse City! It's hard to believe that we had 11 people at once in Mom's room, but it worked out great, and we all loved it!


This little tree was a centerpiece at yesterday's Visitor Center party. I thought it would be perfect for Mother's room, and I think it looks wonderful and festive. Thanks, Kathee for letting us take it. So now the Christmas season is off and running - hang on to your hats!

Ushering in the Holiday Season

The T.C. Convention Bureau and Visitor Center volunteers Christmas Party was this afternoon. It was very festive, with great food, lots of Christmas tree decorations, and good company. To help usher in the season, we had a foot of snow during the afternoon. The party was held at the Maritime Academy, so we were right on the bay. It was interesting to watch the waves smash over the pier - the wind was strong and right out of the northwest. We sat with Jean and John, John and Penny, Val, and Jack. Dick liked the shrimp best; I liked the meatballs and the cheesecake! The coffee was fantastic. There was an open bar, but with the weather the way it was we didn't indulge. I think Dick had one glass of wine. It's always the most enjoyable party of December.

Traffic was awful on the way home, and the roads were treacherous. It took us about 45 minutes to get home, usually a 20 minute drive. The snow drifted up over our porch steps. It was good to be home by the fire.

Jim called this evening. He plans to come up to T.C. tomorrow to visit Mother. I think this will be the official Christmas visit. We're hoping that the main roads will be plowed and sanded by tomorrow.

Julius is 103 !!

Dr. Kevin put in my permanent crown today, and it went very smoothly. Dick went with me, and afterwards, we went out to lunch at Bubba's, and then for a short drive (cache maintenance). He dropped me off at Horizon and went to get a haircut. It's so nice to be out and about - it's like I was never away :)

This article was in today's Record Eagle. It's so nice that Julius can get out of his room occasionally. I hope he had a wonderful birthday. Julius lives across the hall from Mother at Concord Place. He helps her sort her daily newspaper and throws away all of the ads, etc. He has trouble with dry eyes, and he's very hard of hearing, but he's hanging in there. It's hard to believe that anybody is 5 years older than Mother!

Julius Petertyl shares life stories for his birthday

Julius Petertyl remembers when Traverse City had all the bells and whistles.

And he's telling people about them as he turns 103.

"There were churches ringing bells and factories with steam power whistling for starting time,” said Petertyl, who was born in Traverse City on Nov. 30, 1903, the year of the Wright brothers' first flight.

"There were school bells and fire drills and you could go on and on and on,” he said.

He shared his stories of a century-plus of local history with a reporter and later to about 100 people at a party hosted by the Kiwanis Club of Traverse City Monday. Sitting in his wheelchair at the front of the room, he spoke of memories both personal and of the city, including sawdust in the streets to soak up the mud, workers earning 16 cents per hour and a world champion Holstein cow at the Traverse City State Hospital barn.

"When the cow expired, they had a funeral service for the cow,” said Petertyl, who now lives in an assisted living home.

He teared up and had to stop when he spoke of meeting his late wife Dorothy on the golf course and the happy years that followed.

"I love my wife,” he said. "I talk to her every day.”

He recalled the fire whistle that would blow like a siren, which he imitated, and then a code to signify which sector the fire was in.

"When we were kids and heard that at night, it was scary,” he said.

The full-time firemen would take a horse-drawn wagon, pails and a ladder to the fire. Volunteers would leave their homes or jobs and run or ride a bicycle to the fire to help out.

"There were dry, cedar shingles on the roofs, so a spark on the roof starts a fire,” he said.

Petertyl's grandfather Victor Petertyl had come to Traverse City from Prague, Czechoslovakia, in the 1800s. He was a furniture- and cabinet-maker who sold his work at a shop on Front Street.

His father Albert owned the A.T. Petertyl Meat Market in the 500 block of South Union Street when Julius was born. That was before cars were mass-produced, so a horse-and-carriage was the most likely way to get around town. People took a train to go to Grand Rapids or Chicago.

"There were five or six horseshoeing shops in town,” he said.

Two of the town's wagon-, carriage- and sleigh-making shops were owned by Petertyls, cousins of Julius' father. The last name is best known locally because of Petertyl Drug & Gift Center on Front Street, which his brother started; it is no longer in the family.

When Julius was young, his family was one of the few in town who had a telephone, because his father owned a business. To place a call, they had to turn a crank, then tell the operator who they were calling.

In his spare time, he enjoyed making some of his own toys out of wood.

"We'd get wheels from the shops in town that repaired baby buggies and make a cart,” he said.

He also liked to fish the Boardman River off the Union Street bridge.

"You didn't need any fancy equipment,” he said, adding that he and his friends would cut a branch from a tree and tie a line and a hook to it.

The first car he owned, at about age 25, was a used 1919 Ford Roadster.

"It was not enclosed,” he said. That meant the driver and passengers were exposed to the elements.

Petertyl also remembers when snow on the sidewalks was plowed by horses and the city streets were not plowed at all.

"The milkman went through with his milk sleigh and made the first tracks,” he said. "We used to get some big snowstorms.”

In the 1970s, Petertyl helped document the histories of 460 homes and buildings in Traverse City's Central Neighborhood to help get it on the National Register of Historic Places.

"He was instrumental in pulling the Central Neighborhood together with a historic bent and getting it on the National Register,” said Carol Hale, who worked with him on the project.

He attended what is now Central Grade School on Seventh Street and later supervised bricklayers building the barn at Traverse City State Hospital in the 1930s and at Munson Medical Center in the 1950s.

He retired 43 years ago from Consumers Power.

Of course, one of the questioners at the party wanted to know how Petertyl has remained healthy and happy for 103 years.

"I just keep breathing,” he said, which was met with laughter and a standing ovation.

Copyright 1998-2005 Traverse City Record-Eagle

Bumper Stickers

Seen around town:


Who Would Jesus Torture?

and

I was Born OK the First Time

and

Honk If You're Against Noise Pollution

Have you seen other good ones?

Turkey Trot Event

Here's some real geocaching teamwork!
Basswood Bend and cohorts solving problems of the geocaching universe.
One of the cute critters along the way on the Critter Hunt. It was fun!


The event was on Portage Lake in Onekema. There were around 50 people in attendance, both old acquaintances and new folks. One couple came all the way from Wisconsin, and Craig's family came from the Soo. We enjoyed it, and we had so much fun doing the "Critter Hunt", and found 7 caches along the way. We didn't stay for the whole thing, but we did a good bit of it.

Here is Dick's log:

We had a great time. The breakfast was super, the facilities superb and the company was fantastic. It was great to see so many familiar faces as well as so many new ones.
Thanks to Jamie and Barb for hosting and prep. Thanks for the Petersons as well. Thanks also to Gary and Donna for the slide show.
A special thanks Sandrich for the activity. This was our first lengthy caching outing since mid July and to have an activity that allowed full participation, even when a little "gimpy" was much appreciated. We even picked off a few caches that showed up along the route. Sorry that we didn't make it back for dinner and prizes but our energy levels declined and we didn't think it would be a good idea to push it. We'll see every one at the Winter Social.

Gobble, Gobble

Parades, Football, Turkey, Mother, and Pumpkin Pie.

That's what America is all about.

Well, today anyway.

We did it all, and in that order, too.

Mother was felling "some better". but she doesn't look so good, and she was making some mistakes in choosing her words. She calls Bortz "Knox" for some inexplicable reason. She has trouble remembering the names of those around her. She often refers to Julius as "Luther". She has been on an antibiotic for the past week - the last day will be tomorrow. Maybe that medication contributes to the problem. We're getting the feeling that she may need some major dental work and we're trying to figure out how to best accomplish that without making her too uncomfortable. She really doesn't like to move out of her room. 'Tis a problem.

She ate shrimp, and some homemade dressing and gravy, and a couple of olives. It was good, because she hasn't been eating well for a week - mostly just soups.

Spoke to Jana last night - she's feeling much better. Spoke to Laurie and Dylan today - he eats his pumpkin pie with ice cream instead of whipped cream. It's his favorite part of Thanksgiving. Tom had spoken to Laurie and he plans to spend Thanksgiving with Kevin and Amy's family. They have really welcomed him into their family circle. It's a Good Thing.

Thanksgiving Prep

Pool Day at Premier Fitness. Kari is on vacation, so I worked with Sandy. I like Sandy a lot, but....it was a tough workout for me. Went to New Oleson's afterwards to get last minute items for Thanksgiving dinner. Rested for about 2 hours and then wrestled with the turkey, cooked the giblets, and pulled bread for the stuffing. Dick always chops the cooked giblets and the onions, thank goodness.

Dick winterized the boat in the driveway - always an exciting event! He lowers the motor into a bin, fills the bin with water, and runs all of the gas out of the motor. It was fun - lots of splashing and smokiness. The whole place has been winterized now - all of our outside furniture is under cover, the covers are on everything, the yard has been de-leafed and it looks great. In the words of our illustrious President, Bring it on.

************

Today is the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963. Baby Tommy was almost one month old, Laurie was 2 years and 9 months old. Mom and Dad were coming for the weekend because it was the weekend of the Michigan-Ohio State game. Kennedy was shot around 1 p.m. on Friday, and the football game was cancelled. We spent the weekend watching events unfold on TV - it was very bizarre and upsetting.

**************

That Day in Dallas

By TOM WICKER

Forty years after the death of John F. Kennedy, the world is obviously a different place. Since Nov. 22, 1963, numerous developments — most recently, those of Sept. 11, 2001 — have shaken the nation and the world until both would have been all but unrecognizable from the perspective of the Kennedy years.
The young president's more extreme admirers lamented in 1963 that even the greatness of the nation, the future that had seemed so glowing, might suffer decline with the loss of the Kennedy touch. Some political analysts calculated that the Democratic party would not for years recover from the loss of so attractive a leader. Many were deeply affected personally. "We may laugh again," said Daniel P. Moynihan, then an assistant secretary of labor, "but we'll never be young again."

In the shock of the assassination — the first of a president since Leon Czolgosz had shot William McKinley more than a half century earlier — no one could be sure how the cold war would be affected by a new man at the head of American policy. What about Kennedy's civil rights bill, deadlocked and stymied in Congress? Could his space program, including the promise to put a man on the moon, be continued? Might the war in Vietnam be won — or should it be abandoned?

Four decades after the shooting in Dallas, it's surprising how little the assassination — at the time a veritable thunderclap among events — affected these specific questions, much less the inexorable tide of history. Kennedy's absence from the government and the political scene, of course, immediately changed the presidential succession — but politics already was changing, not necessarily for the better, and would have changed even if Kennedy had lived.

Sweet Tuesday

I am out and about more, mostly walking without the cane, and it does feel great! I'm still a little unsteady, but it's not that bad. The pills that Dr. Burke gave me for gout relieved the pain already, and I'm really grateful. The gout was on my good side, so it was hard to know which way to limp!

We'll be having a very quiet Thanksgiving - just the two of us. We'll do the traditional dinner on Thursday, and spend time with Mother. She hasn't been feeling well this week, so we're kind of playing that by ear. We have a geocaching event on Saturday over in Portage that we're planning to attend, assuming that all is well with Mother.

Jana is still not back at work - she has been really sick. She had pelvic inflammatory disease associated with her infected cyst and it laid her low. Now she's battling the mother of all colds - it hit her when her immune system was down. She sounded much better when I talked to her yesterday. We're expecting her home for Christmas if all goes well. The others will all be in Florida for Christmas.

Game Day

Well OSU is still number one. It will be interesting to see where Michigan winds up in the rankings. They came close, but no cigar. This from mgoblue.com:

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The University of Michigan football team was unable to overcome a 14-point halftime deficit and could not pull closer than three points from the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes Saturday (Nov. 18) at Ohio Stadium, losing 42-39 before a sellout and stadium-record crowd of 105,708 fans at the Horseshoe. The Wolverines (11-1, 7-1 Big Ten) gained 397 yards of total offense while yielding a season-high 507 yards to the Buckeyes (12-0, 8-0 Big Ten.

Michigan has had a marvelously entertaining season, and we've enjoyed it every step of the way. Well done, Wolverines.

BO

Bo died today. Hail to the Victor Valiant. "'Michigan-Ohio State tomorrow, [Dan] Dierdorf correctly said Friday, "will just be the football game that was played the day after Bo died.'"

*******
MITCH ALBOM:

DETROIT - The biggest game doesn't seem so big anymore, because the biggest man in the history of Michigan football won't be watching it.

Bo Schembechler is dead. I never wanted to write that sentence. They've asked me to construct his obituary and I don't want the job, because I don't want to fashion a world that doesn't have Bo in it. He used to joke with me that he was an accident, because he was born in 1929, the year of the Great Depression, and "anyone who wants a baby in 1929 is crazy."

But he wasn't an accident. If ever a man seemed destined to be in a certain place at a certain time, it was Bo Schembechler prowling the sidelines of a Michigan football game on Saturday afternoons. He seems permanently painted into that picture - and while the players are bigger and stronger, he is always the largest thing in the frame. Bo could cast a shadow in rainstorm. His voice could be heard on the moon. It is being heard today, in the heads and hearts of the thousands of men who are balding, overweight, nursing sore backs and knees, but who still can hear their old coach's shrill but powerful urgings, telling them to block harder, to tackle harder, to do things "the Michigan way" and good things will happen.

"We are heartbroken," said Dan Dierdorf, one of the more famous of those former players, talking Friday night on a cell phone in a parking lot a short distance from Bo's home, where he was going to do something he never wanted to do: pay a condolence call.

Dierdorf, like anyone who ever played for Bo, knows the old man's voice will never be silenced. And yet the man himself is gone, done in by the very organ that truly defined him: his heart.

It was tragic and sudden and awful and shocking and it was exactly the way we knew it would happen. Bo told me once, "I will die one day from a bad heart."

As usual, the old man was right. We should have seen it coming. Thirty-seven years ago, he was walking up a hill in Pasadena, Calif., alone, in the dark, and he felt a stabbing pain and he grabbed a tree to hold himself up. He was only 40 then, but that incident - the night before his first Rose Bowl - was his first heart attack. Friday's incident, when he was 77 - the day before the biggest Michigan-Ohio State game ever - was his last.

In between there were too many surgeries, procedures, EKGs, a pacemaker, too many scary rushes to the hospital with everyone thinking, "Is this it?" But Bo came back from them all. Sooner or later, there he was, Michigan's Lazarus, in a natty sports coat with a maize-and-blue tie, and he'd be barking his same old bark and telling people he was a medical miracle, and, well, after a while, you just figured he could straight-arm anything, even mortality.

But if death doesn't get you at the shoulders it will get you at the knees, if not by the front, then from behind. And so, during a taping Friday morning of his weekly television show on Channel 7, doing the thing he liked second-best, talking about football - coaching it would always be No. 1 - death tried blindsiding Bo once more.

And this time, the only time, it took him down.

Checking out Michigan

I likely will fail at this assignment, because I cannot focus on what posterity should know about this man. You start with facts about Bo Schembechler but you quickly drift to anecdotes. It can't be helped. Bo made memories even better than he made history.

I can tell you he was born in the small town of Barberton, Ohio, the son of a fireman, and that long after he'd left he still could name you every factory in that town. I can tell you that he had two older sisters who teased him constantly and a mother he adored and who could match him stubborn for stubborn. I can tell you that his father once had a chance to get a cheater's advance copy of a civil service exam but he refused, and he finished one point behind a guy who cheated, and he didn't get the job he wanted. Bo said that night taught him more about integrity than anything ever would.

I can tell you Bo, growing up, was an excellent athlete. I can tell you that the first time he set eyes on a Michigan football field was as a senior in high school, on his way home from a family vacation. They drove through Ann Arbor and the Wolverines, by luck, were practicing. Bo and his father approached to take a peek. Not wanting to be noticed, they watched from near a field that was then open space.

Today there is a building on that field.

It's called Schembechler Hall.

You realize, by that geography, that while Bo played for Miami of Ohio and coached several other places (including Ohio State) he was, and will always be, all over Michigan football. Everything you see now has ties to him. The head coach, Lloyd Carr, worked under Bo, and the coach before Carr, Gary Moeller, worked under Bo. The radio announcer, Jim Brandstatter, played under Bo, and as he gets older he sounds more and more like Bo.

Brandstatter was one of those guys from Bo's first U-M team, the 1969 team that put him on the map - guys like Dierdorf, Jim Mandich, Garvie Craw, Don Moorhead, Billy Taylor - his first team, his most beloved team, the one that shocked the nation in upsetting Woody Hayes' Buckeyes, then ranked No. 1.

It has been 37 years since that game, and yet those players still can tell you every moment of it, every play, every exuberant shout, how in the locker room at halftime, they knew they were living through an historic moment. Bo was their drill sergeant, their tormentor, their teacher and their father figure. He has been the glue that has held them together all these years, the catalyst for their conversations - Hey, remember when the old man whacked that yardstick through Brandstatter's legs?" - and they always spoke about him with love, laughs and reverence.

Today they will be speaking through tears. Many will no doubt see each other again the way too many of us see our old friends again: at a funeral. And they will likely be saying what the voice in my head, maybe your head, too, is saying now: Bo cannot be dead. I refuse to believe it.

He was there for too many of them. He came to their golf tournaments, he stood up in their weddings, he spoke to their sons, he visited them in hospitals. Once, he even walked a former player who ran afoul of the law virtually to the prison door, urging him to stay strong and remember who he was. If you played for Bo, you were granted permission to a special club; you were always one of his boys. Bo had a sign above the locker room door his first grueling season at Michigan: "Those who stay will be champions."

He could have written underneath it, ". . . and will always be welcome here."

A visit with The King

What else can I write? Did you know Bo met Elvis once? It's true. He was in Las Vegas and somehow, after the show, he ended up backstage with The King. Bo didn't really know what to say, so he paid the singer a compliment on his jumpsuits and next thing he knew, he was back in a private closet with Elvis showing him his collection of rhinestone-covered costumes. He told Bo how much they cost, and that he never wore them more than once and then they were shipped to some museum. There was, Bo recalled, an awkward a pause, just the two of them, alone with those jumpsuits, and then they came back and joined the crowd.

Years later, I asked Bo what he thought of that encounter.

"I thought, `I don't want to be him,' " Bo said.

He wasn't. Bo was the King around here, but not in private counsel with secret dressing rooms. He was out among the people, everywhere, at banquets, at charity functions, slapping backs, punching arms, bounding through the press box. Bo genuinely liked people, interesting people - in later years he even mellowed with sportswriters - and he could just as easily strike up a conversation with a janitor as he could with a president of the United States. And he did. Bo knew Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, Bo Derek and the guy next door. He embodied that Rudyard Kipling poem that celebrates a man who "can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch."

He as a great storyteller, you hung on his words, and he was one of the funniest men you would ever meet. He loved to laugh at himself, and he used his hands to communicate, pounding on tabletops, poking fingers in chests - I once sat next to him at a basketball game and my arm was black and blue from all the times he slapped me when he got worked up. He used phrases like "dad gum" and "by god" and "now you listen to me ..." It is the mark of his combustive personality that he is remembered today by a sentence he bellowed at a news conference: "A Michigan man will coach Michigan."

You had no doubt that a Michigan Man was saying it.

Battling with Woody

He won more football games than any coach in his school's history and his teams won or shared the Big Ten title 13 times in his 21 seasons. He held a small edge in the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry - 11-9-1 - and a one-game edge over Woody Hayes in their 10-year war - 5-4-1. His relationship with that irascible coach was as deep and as complex as any in sports. Bo played for Woody, he worked for Woody, and he was ultimately burdened with trying to defeat Woody. It was the son battling the father. The student battling the teacher. Yet for all their fierce battles, their traded tantrums, the most emotional moment came years later, in 1987, when Hayes was long retired.

There was banquet for Bo in Dayton, Ohio. Hayes, despite failing health, insisted on coming to introduce Bo. He was using a wheelchair at this point, but he spoke for 15 or 20 minutes, fond memories, compliments, the kind of thing a friend does for a friend.

The next night he died.

And just as Bo was forever shaped by Woody, so have all the coaches and players who labored for Bo been shaped by him. They have spread out over the land, become pro athletes, lawyers, doctors, some have taken head coaching jobs and come back to play Michigan. But they remain a unique fraternity, ribbons around the maypole of Bo Schembechler.

Bo was passionate about what he did. "Some of the finest people I know are football coaches," he once told me. "They're smart. They're tough. Good thinkers. Hard workers. When I say I'm a football coach, I'm damn proud of the fact that I'm a football coach."

His later careers - athletic director, Tigers team president, TV analyst - were all well and good, he made some nice contributions, but you always knew they were things that he did because he couldn't do what he really loved to do anymore. He told me several times had he had it to do over again, he would not have retired when he did in 1989.

Then again, Bo never really retired. He kept an office at Michigan, close enough to chit chat with any coach or player if he wanted. He served as the elder statesman, the grandfather at the table, Don Corleone sitting in a side chair after he'd turned the business over to his son Michael.

"A guy from Michigan State once told me Bo's still coaching there," Dierdorf recalled. "They just use a different name `Bo-Mo-Carr.' "

There is some truth in that. Bo is the cloak from which the cloth is spun. And it is impossible to imagine what today in Columbus, Ohio, will be like for Carr, who has to guide his young players through one of the biggest games in Big Ten history, while everywhere he looks he hears and sees his old boss and friend.

"Michigan-Ohio State tomorrow," Dierdorf correctly said Friday, "will just be the football game that was played the day after Bo died."

Living a good life

I can tell you he loved his wives. Millie was his partner on the way up, gave him a home, a family, three adopted sons and one more they conceived together. After she died, Bo might never have married again, had he not found Kathy, a perfect partner for his later years, a loving, supportive woman whose strong will probably kept Bo alive years longer than he would have done on his own.

He is survived by Kathy and his sons, the ones who share his name and the thousands more who do not, the ones who wore Michigan helmets and have no blood ties, unless you count bleeding maize and blue a family trait. They all remember him, and if you live on through memories, then Bo is far from dead, he will not be dead for generations.

Maybe I can best end this rambling remembrance with a personal account. Bo and I spent more than a year together writing his autobiography. During that time, by his admission, I spent more time with him "than my wife!" (He usually added a few expletives after that.)

It was a whale of a time. We talked, we argued, we reminisced, we argued, we talked and talked some more. We took planes and cars, we sat in offices and in locker rooms. We ate. He loved to eat. One time, en route to a banquet at the Naval Academy in Maryland, he spotted a Fuddruckers hamburger joint. He loved those places and he gave a forlorn look. I told him he couldn't eat a hamburger because he had a big steak banquet coming up.

But I, on the other hand, was going.

"You dawg!" he exclaimed.

And of course he went with me. And he ate a hamburger - no pun intended - with more relish than I have ever seen a man eat one, he was like a kid getting away with playing hookey. He told me that was the "most outstanding idea" that I had ever had.

Why can I still remember that moment almost 20 years later? Because Bo filled the most normal moments with a sky's worth of wonderful, boisterous air.

Today they are saying "it was his time." But I disagree. Friday morning in a hospital was not his time. His time was Saturday afternoons from September to November, his time was on the field, making memories, his time was chomping on a hamburger, his time was looking up from his desk and seeing an old player pop his head in, accomplished, proud, a man.

His time was the time he lived, not the moment he died. When we finished our book together, the publisher asked if there were any dedications or thank-you's we wanted to insert. I listed dozens of Bo's relatives, friends and former players. Bo only wanted to put in one sentence. He wrote, "I want to personally thank Mitch Albom. The poor son of a bitch had no idea what he was getting into."

He was right, but not because it was worse than I thought, because it was better. A million times better. My days with Bo, like so many others days with Bo, were a carpet ride with a sultan, a balcony address to a cheering crowd, a sidecar on a speeding bike through glorious, chilly football afternoons.

There was a time around here when they chanted, "Bo is God! Bo is God!" He wasn't of course, but now that he's gone, everywhere you turn you hear their names in the same sentence. He will be missed. God, how Bo will be missed

*********

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The game of the year in college football has yet another storyline — a sad one. The first No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup between Ohio State and Michigan comes a day after the Wolverines lost their most celebrated leader, Bo Schembechler. The longtime coach, who played a starring role for two decades in the century-old grudge match, died Friday at age 77.

An Ohioan who became a Michigan icon, Schembechler cut across this rivalry and helped make it the biggest — and at times bitterest — feud in football. Now even his death will be forever linked with The Game.

"He will always be both a Buckeye and a Wolverine, and our thoughts are with all who grieve his loss," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said.

Now, the second-ranked Wolverines enter Saturday's showdown, with the Big Ten title, a spot (or two) in the national championship game and perhaps the Heisman Trophy at stake, with heavy hearts.

"We have lost a giant at Michigan and in college football," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said in a statement released by the school.

Carr, a Schembechler protege, declined to speak with the media when he arrived with his team at Ohio Stadium on Friday. The Wolverines (11-0, 7-0) went through a quiet 25-minute walkthrough, putting the finishing touches on their preparation for the top-ranked Buckeyes (11-0, 7-0).

Schembechler brought Carr to Michigan as an assistant in 1980, and Carr was promoted to head coach in 1995. But Schembechler was never far from the program or Carr. Carr's office is in Schembechler Hall, right down the hall from his former boss.

In fact, Carr asked Schembechler to speak to the Wolverines on Thursday.

Schembechler's Wolverines were 11-9-1 against Ohio State, 5-4-1 while Woody Hayes, Schembechler's mentor at Miami of Ohio turned Big Ten rival, patrolled the Buckeyes' sideline from 1969-78.

Carr, who won the national title in 1997 that always eluded Schembechler, hasn't fared so well against Ohio State lately. Carr's Wolverines have lost four of five to the Buckeyes since Tressel took over in Columbus.

Carr has drawn the ire of impatient Michigan fans for being on the short end too often against the hated Buckeyes. Winning one for Bo on Saturday — especially one this big — would no doubt appease many critics.

It's hardly fair considering these Buckeyes might be the most talented Tressel has coached, including the squad that won the 2002 national championship.

Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith directs one of the most explosive offenses in the country, and he's been at his best against Michigan the last two seasons.

"My success is credited to everybody else around me," Smith said. "It's not just that I'm 2-0 against Michigan. Everybody who has played on the field against them is 2-0."

True, but no one is more responsible for that 2-0 against the Maize and Blue than the multitalented Smith.

He passed for 241 yards, ran for a career-high 145 and accounted for three TDs in Ohio State's 37-21 upset of Michigan in Columbus two years ago. Last season, Smith threw for 300 yards, ran for a touchdown and led two long, late scoring drives to beat Michigan 25-21.

If Smith has another magical day against Michigan, the senior can all but wrap up the Heisman Trophy race. Smith has thrown 26 touchdown passes and only four interceptions while completing 66 percent of his throws.

"First of all, he's a great leader for their offense," said Michigan linebacker David Harris, the leading tackler on a unit ranked No. 1 in the country against the run. "He has a great arm. He has good mobility in the pocket. He's their guy."

He's not their only guy. Speedster Ted Ginn Jr. and Anthony Gonzalez make up one of the country's best receiving duos. Antonio Pittman has run for 1,032 yards and 12 TDs.

"You can't really just focus on one guy," said Michigan defensive end LaMarr Woodley, who leads the team with 11 sacks. "It's an all-around team. They have other weapons in there."

Woodley is the catalyst for a tenacious defense that has 41 sacks and is allowing 29.9 yards per game on the ground.

"It's safe to say he's probably the best defensive end in college football," said Ohio State offensive lineman T.J. Downing, whose father, Walter, was a captain on Schembechler's 1977 team. "So we're just going to have to get after him. We're going to have to hit him in the mouth every play and just go from there."