Goodbye, Yankee Stadium: A Tribute to Charmian Kaplan Freund

I've always been a nostalgic person; remembering and reflecting on the past is one of my favorite hobbies.  I find that clinging to memories of simpler times can often be a comforting tool in embracing the challenges that adulthood presents.

Don't get me wrong now: I'm always excited about the future.  I'm not one of those folks that lives in the past—or thinks that everything is going downhill from here.  At some point or another I'm sure I'll adopt that outlook, but at 25 my general feeling is that there's plenty of living left to do. But, to pretend that I don't think about—and sometimes, yearn for—the past would be a flat out lie.

There's an innocence about childhood that has always been very attractive to me; in hindsight I had so little legitimate responsibility and true understanding of the world.  My lack of sophistication allowed me to really appreciate the simple pleasures of life.  

I remember how alive I felt climbing trees, perched on a branch, gazing over the neighborhood; or playing catch with my Dad and brother and the bond it fostered between us.  

Those kind of carefree moments are hard to recreate as an adult, so we settle for remembering them in our hearts and reliving them in our minds.

Watching the final game ever played at Yankee Stadium last night brought a lot of the past back for me.  It was a very emotional experience, as some of my fondest early childhood memories took place there.

I may be a Californian now, but for the first seven years of my life I lived in New York suburbia, in a town called Scarsdale to be exact.  I was born and raised a Bombers fan, though I later switched allegiances to the Oakland Athletes upon my westward migration.

But before I tell you my memories of Yankee Stadium, it's important to share with all of you the story of one of the most special people I've ever known: my grandmother, Charmian Freund.  

Grandma Charm was born Charmian Litt Kaplan in Trenton, New Jersey.  In her late teens, she married my Granddad Seelig, who was serving aboard the Queen Mary as a surgeon in World War II.  When Seelig was eventually discharged, the couple moved to New York City, where they would remain for the rest of their married lives.

In addition to being a mother and homemaker, Charm was a 24/7 social butterfly; she had hundreds of friends scattered throughout Manhattan and beyond.  Charm developed connections all over the city that ensured she could get the best ticket in the house to a new Broadway show, or walk into a hot restaurant on a Friday night without a reservation and sit at whatever table she pleased.

That's not to say that Charm was a stuffy elitist—this couldn't be further from the truth.  Charm's most special quality in fact was her ability to relate to people from all backgrounds and cultures, and to make them feel respected and appreciated.

She may have lived in America's biggest city, but she had the charm (no pun intended) of a small-town gal.

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