It may come as a surprise to some of you that my grandfather, "G," was playing golf in Florida on the day that I was born. He says that he tried to get an earlier flight to Syracuse once he heard that I was on my way, but I don't buy his story. I think that he wanted to finish his round of golf.
Anyway, West Chase was the name of the golf course that my grandfather and his friend, Michael Gordon, were playing that day. When they were on the 15th green, the flag fell off of the pin. I guess G tried to reattach the flag, but he could not get it to stay. Michael Gordon told my grandfather that it must be an omen and he should take the flag. So he did.
This all happened well before I arrived, and no one, not even my mom, knew that my name was going to be Chase. She was a little panicked in the delivery room because she thought that she had five more weeks to brainstorm names. The pressure was on! But after a long labor, my dad convinced her that Chase sounded like a good baseball name. I think that she was pretty tired, and it certainly beat the alternative....Yogi Dera.
When G got back from Florida, we were all surprised to hear what happened. We took lots of pictures with the West Chase flag, and the flag is now hanging in our family room as a reminder of that great day! Although my Grandpa G was not in the hospital on the day that I was born, I like to think that we were connected in an even more special way!
