Ron Drogo, (spnited), RIP

Is that Bud Harrelson?

 

He looks like he was quite the five-tool player in the Panagea Little League

LET THE HEALING BEGIN

 

Dick,

In September 2003, after a series of deaths that touched some or all of us, I started a thread called <a href="http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/1265/">Take care of yourself</a> with a link to some health-related news (that link to "Men's Health" has since expired). The next day, after a few replies by others, I posted this:

Not to get carried away or anything, but it might be a wonderful thing if people posted their helpful tips, links, etc., here regularly. Maybe if you have time, each time you do something (a certain workout, a certain meal) that you haven't told us about yet, post it here.

Maybe Moddy could keep it high in the rotation, so it's seen every day. I know I would find it helpful. It would be something I would check every day.

I bet there are outstanding ideas here to be shared, and we'd all benefit.

Moddy said he would sticky the thread, at least for a short while. The thread (someone else added the LiveSTRONG part to the subject line) has had its ebb and flow, but more than seven years later, it's still stickied. It's had 3,449 replies and 181,507 page views. The day I started the thread, I felt similar to how I feel now. Perhaps I will start taking my own advice again, and some of the wonderful advice that's on that thread.

No need to apologize for your threadjack, in my opinion. People looking for another way to pay tribute to Ron could do a lot worse than to start taking better care of themselves.

 

You can judge a person by what his colleagues say about him after he's gone.

I almost cried on a couple of the comments on the paper's link.

Same here.

Makes me wish I knew him.

 

The RIP tag at the top of SportsJournalists.com is a damn nice touch.

Well done.

 

Seconded.

 

Ron Drogo was a loved man, that much is known. The scores of family and friends who showed up to both wakes enforced that reality. A lot of people showed. Tons. Waves and waves and waves rolled in.

Got to the first wake 40 minutes early. First thing I saw was Ron's casket half-open, Ron's hands folded over his stomach. "Hey, s.p.-nited, nice to meet you. It's Songbird." Figured I would formalize our introduction. Stood there and stared at him hard for about a minute. Thought I heard him snoring a bit. Wished he was.

Met his sisters, Janet and Linda. Lovely women. Warm and embracing, wondering smiles. I met Linda's husband, too, and we talked a few minutes. Tears streamed down his face as he talked about how Ron and his love of baseball. Ron hated him because he's a Yankees fan who married one of the Drogo sisters of Metsville. It was in jest, of course, but you know ... .

His B-I-L talked about how Ron's brother, Billy, died 6 months ago after watching a game at the new Yankee Stadium. Billy was walking in one of the concourses and had a heart attack and died.

It's been a terribly difficult time in the Drogo family. But I suppose it's reassuring for the Drogo sisters to know that the Drogo brothers are playing catch together again somewhere out there.

Below are some of the photos. They mostly of the board showing Ron in different phases of his life. I think they sum him up quite well. I also took a shot of BYH as he stood near the casket staring at Ron. I met BYH finally. He and I butted heads last year. Petty stuff, really. The first thing he did after introducing himself was apologize. He's a solid guy. Glad I had an SJ'er to cling to for the final hour of the first wake.

Anyway, of the hundreds of beautiful lines I heard today, 3 of them, I think, best define Ronald Joseph Drogo:

"Till the end he loved his job."

"Every conversation with him was spirited."

"Ron was more than just a handshake."

I chewed on that line for long stretches of the drive home.

More than just a handshake.

Without saying very much, it says everything about Ron Drogo.

It was nice to meet you, spnited.








Here is Ron's family.

 

That's amazing.

Thank you for sharing, Xan. I'm so glad you could make it.

 

Songbird, thank you so much for posting these photos.

*hugs*

I think I'm gonna go have a good cry now.

 

Thanks, Xan.

 

I went for myself, and I went for all of you, and for everyone at 2.0.

 

Thank you, Xan. Hope you don't mind that many of us are living vicariously through you in that post. That really, really helped. Glad you made it there for those of us who couldn't.