Dear Henry

Last night we were looking for some runs. Tonight we'll be looking for the Afikomen. This is our third straight Passover in St. Louis. We never visited when you were alive. We were doing too much traveling to hospitals and I think we were scared to be away from our home base.











The last time we were here was for the World Series. So it was nice to go to Opening Day with Hannah and Aunt Jen. Uncle Dan had to be at a dinner for his work.

The sad part was the Cardinals lost. But that's okay. We got to see the Budwesier Clydesdales, Bob Gibson, Lou Brock and Stan "The Man" Musial. And Jack and Joe and Hannah all got World Series hats that they were giving to kids. I remember getting "flip down" sunglasses as a giveaway at a Senator's game at RFK stadium when I was a kid. I used to think I was a big league outfielder when I was catching tennis balls we threw up high to ourselves in the cul de sac on Singleton Drive.

Joe took the opportunity on the last night before Passover to knock back almost all of the baseball food groups - peanuts, hot dogs, Cracker Jack and cotton candy. He passed over the beer, so I took care of that.

Here is some Cracker Jack information that I came across when I was looking for something online.

Enough Cracker Jack has been sold that if laid end-to-end it would circle the Earth more than 69 times.

-Cracker Jack is the world's largest user of toys.

-More than 23 billion toys have been given out since 1912.

-Some old Cracker Jack prizes are valued at more than $7,000.

-A complete series of the 1915 baseball cards, original and in near mint condition, has been valued as high as $60,000.

-The two men, Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer, who wrote the song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" in 1908, would not see a baseball game until years after they had composed their "baseball anthem." Norworth saw his first game in 1940 when the Brooklyn Dodgers honored him at Ebbets Field. Von Tilzer did not see his first game for more than 20 years after the song came out."

-Cracker Jack," prior to being associated with the caramel coated popcorn and peanuts treat, was slang for something considered really great. Much the way people today use the word, "awesome," people then used the word "crackerjack."

-During the Depression, the company that made Cracker Jack introduced many new products, although most of them enjoyed only a short period of popularity. New treats included Cracker Jack Cocoanut Corn Brittle and chocolate-covered Cracker Jack.

-From 1941 to 1945, Cracker Jack became a national hero by supplying emergency field rations for the Allies during World War II. In fact, the company received three awards from the Army and Navy, including one for "high achievement in the production of materials needed by our armed forces."