Jay Miller and the Ghosts in My Head

I had a couple of things on my mind so I thought I would use the blog to share them with you.

First, did you know that Jay Miller is the C.O.O., President, and part owner (along with Nolan Ryan and a few others) of the Round Rock Express, the triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros? Here’s a link to Jay's bio. For Bill’s sake, Jay was a guy we went to high school with. He was a year ahead of us and I think we all liked him. I know I thought he was a good guy.

There’s really nothing more to that story. I just found it interesting and thought I would pass it along.

I don’t know if I ever told you guys, but while I was going through cancer treatments, I was often visited by three ghosts. I know it sounds crazy, but it is true. The three ghosts were the other worldly spirits of Dave Rowden (my former boss from Florida), Tom Noelke (a fellow State Farm agent from Wisconsin) and Brad Grams (a guy we went to high school with). All three died from cancer.

The ghosts of Dave and Tom really didn’t bother me much. In life, I got along with them both. In fact, I attended both of their funerals (I hadn’t thought about that before I just wrote it). Brad, on the other hand, was kind of a pompous guy in high school. He was a year ahead of us (again, for Bill’s sake) and I don’t think he ever liked me.

When the three ghosts would appear, they would not talk, but we were able to communicate a little bit non-verbally. Dave and Tom seemed to be supportive. Brad seemed to be a bit angry. Their message was always the same; let go and join us on the other side.

I seem to remember that Brad had gotten a job as a janitor at East High. I’m not sure how a guy goes from being a high school sports stud and marry his high school sweetheart cheerleader girlfriend to sweeping hallways at that same high school. Maybe you guys know more of the story. I just remember feeling bad for Brad when I heard that story after he died. Something must have gone wrong for him. Maybe he was pissed at me for taking pity on him. Who knows?

Anyway, Dave and Tom would encourage me to stop fighting and just pass on. They were soothing and seemed to want to help. It was almost like they wanted the best for me. Brad on the other hand was much less patient. The message I got from him was (not necessarily in these words) “Just die already. Get it over with.” He didn’t seem to be looking out for my best interests. He just wanted me dead.

In the interest of full disclosure, I was on some fairly heavy duty drugs during these appearances. At first, I was on a fentenyl patch. At that time, Dave, Tom and Brad would visit me only in my dreams. After a while, when I was switched over to methadone and morphine (quite a cocktail), the three ghosts would visit me both when I was awake and when I was asleep.

When the worst was over and it became apparent that I was going to live, the three amigos stopped visiting me. I continued to enjoy my methadone and morphine cocktails for a while after that, but Dave, Tom and Brad were not heard from again.

During my ordeal with cancer (and while taking methadone and morphine) I was also blessed with the knowledge of the true nature of God. I’ll have to tell you about that someday.