Hello again. I am Joey’s Dad and this is Michele, Joey’s Mom. Two years ago we spoke at the memorial about Joey, I’m not sure what else to say, but if we’re given a chance to talk about Joey, we’re going to take it. It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since the last time we spoke to you about him. Last time I told you I wished I were the Tin Man, because if I didn’t have a heart, it couldn’t be broken. I must say, that hasn’t really changed. Now I’m here to tell you I also feel like Yankee great, Lou Gehrig. Knowing he was dying, in his farewell speech Gehrig said, "You have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth.” Some might say we got a bad break, but I think I am the luckiest man on the face of this earth.

I got to spend every day for nine and a half years with the most beautiful, gentle, pure soul I can imagine. And that can only make you a better person. I have come to realize that it is not so important where you end up. It’s the journey that is important. And man, what an incredible journey has been. Robert frost wrote. “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” We, like all of you, have been led down the road less traveled. And that made a great difference.

It was a magical journey, a journey that took us all over the country and introduced us to many characters. Very much like the Yellow Brick Road. Our journey with Joey took us all over the country, from the east coast to Hawaii.

Some of the things we did with Joey, on our journey were spectacular. We swam with dolphins, and saw a Space Shuttle launch. Joey’s first baseball game was at Wrigley Field, two rows behind the Cubs dugout in seats we got from baseball great, Don Newcomb. After that Joey saw the Padres play in San Diego went to games at Angels Stadium and Dodger Stadium. He went to a minor league game in Harrisburg Pennsylvania where he got a foul ball. We sat in a suite at the Rose Bowl for a UCLA game. We went to spring training with the Dodgers and the Yankees and to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We watched fireworks at Disneyland, Epcot Center, and on the Forth of July from the observation deck of the Sears Towers. Probably the weirdest thing we did was Joey auditioning for a Toys R’ Us Commercial, he didn’t get the part, but we went on the call.

We met some special characters with Joey. We met athletes, TV stars, movie stars, rock stars, directors, and astronauts. We made great fiends, and met wonderful therapists, nurses and doctors. A couple of doctors in L.A. were not so great. But what would the Wizard of Oz be without the Wicked Witch? Dorothy said of her journey, “Some of it wasn't very nice, but most of it was beautiful.” We second that.

There is a price to pay for such a magical journey. The price we pay is missing Joey. We miss every thing about him.
When I hear songs about saying goodbye, part of me feels sad. But the rest of me knows I never really said goodbye to Joey. He never really left me. I feel him with me all the time. Professor Dumbledore told Harry Potter that the people we love, who die, never truly leave us. We recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble. They are alive in us and show themselves most plainly when we are in need of them. As Hagrid said, “Great man, Dumbledore.”

At the time Joey died he had three cousins. They all loved him very much and he loved them back equally. His medical condition meant nothing to them; they just wanted to love him. They would roll around the floor with him, just a pile of tangled arms and legs with a steady stream of laughter coming out of it. They would read and sing to him. They would help feed him. They would fight over who got to push him around in his wheelchair. I don’t know what subjects they will choose in school or what their careers will be when they are adults, but what I do know is that when they run into someone physically or mentally handicapped they will treat him or her with kindness, respect and compassion, thanks to Joey’s influence on them. Through them, Joey will continue to make a sometimes-uncaring world, a better place.

I wanted to close with a few words about love. I was reading a book by legendary UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden. He spoke of his special needs great-grandson, Cameron. He said that Cameron is,” most severely handicapped in every way except his unlimited capacity to give love and create it in others.” When I read that, I thought it was a perfect description of Joey. Coincidently, Cameron and Joey graduated at the same time from the same early intervention program; Coach sat right behind us that night. Coach believes Love is the greatest of all words in our language. We would have to agree. Thanks for listening.
 

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