News on Rod Beaton (includes update from Maria Beaton)

"Seldom" and "Never"

Now THAT brought a smile to my face.
"seldom" Beaton and "Never" Beaton. In the early years he worked for the Wilmington News "urinal." In Philadelphia, travelling to hockey games from Wilmington, we always avoided the "Surekill" expressway. And when we moved to Virginia at the start of USAToday, it was accross the "Pot - o - muc."

Rod made great creative use of words, in spite of USAToday's propensity to try and beat it out of him. Thanks for the "seldom" and "never" memories. And the heart of Rock and Roll is still "Beaton." (Groan...how often did the press box hear that one?)

When it was time to assess his memory at the psychiatric hospital this spring, he was non responsive. I wasn't supposed to be there. It is assumed the spouse wants to commit the other half and for his own protection, the spouse is supposed to stay away. I knew it, but ignored it - and by the way, when you live through the hell of insanity, and survive, there's very little bull you care to put up with. So I get away with a lot now.

Back in May, I wasn't trying to commit Rod, I wanted help. If they could get him better right then and there, I was prepared to bring him home.
So a lawyer and a state-appointed psychiatrist asked him questions. He ignored them. I approached and told Rod, "What's my nickname?" They gasped at my obvious violation and I told them to shut up and listen. He seemed to wake up looked for me and I repeated the question: what's my nickname? He answered, clear as a bell: "Boomer." I stepped back and watched the state officials take over now that they had a reaction. They got it and asked the next obvious question: "How did I get that nickname?" Again, clear as can be, Rod said: She was playing softball for the first time, it was our third date. She didn't know what she was doing and I wanted to encourage her so I called her Boom Boom Bedard (Maiden name). She said she hated that name and told me to try another. Why, ? I asked her, Boom Boom is a famous player. She didn't care, Boom Boom sounded like Betty Boop on steroids, she replied. Find another name. So I said, "How about Boomer?" And she liked it, so that's her name.
Seldom and never...thanks for the memory.

 

Thanks for sharing that, Boomer.

 

Maria, Bonnie Ford here, Rod would remember me by my maiden name of DeSimone. I was thinking of Rod while watching the World Series. I will never forget the warmth with which he welcomed me into the fraternity when I switched from cityside to sports in the early '90s after a loaner stint at USA Today, where I met him. In '98 I wrote a series about baseball in Cuba that he liked, and he never failed to mention it whenever I saw him. I am so terribly sorry for all you're going through and I hope the collective esteem we have for Rod is some small comfort.

 

Maria, you do not remember me, since we only met once, but what an occasion it was. It was 24 years ago at a hockey writer's wedding. My wife and I sat with you and Rod at the reception along with some others, including another hockey writer and his then-wife. The latter writer is notorious for being slightly to the right of Rush Limbaugh and it turned out his wife was right there with him. They were great admirers of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher.
This led to an intense but short argument between them and the Beatons. It started with a remark about Reagan and Thatcher, escalated quickly and was ended with a riposte from Boomer. I can't tell you her comeback because the fight started just after I got up to go to the washroom and on my way back to the table I ran into the losing writer and his wife, who were putting on their coats and heading out the door. Since it was only 9 p.m., I asked what was up and the writer mumbled something about having to go relieve the babysitter.
We had a great evening after that but it turned out that was just the warmup. Things actually got physical a couple hours later when one of the hockey writer groom's cousins took exception to a member of the bride's side. In his view, this fellow was paying too much attention to the hockey writer's very attractive (and engaged) sister so he decked him on the dance floor. The bride was horrified but the show went on.
Maria, please know that all us Canucklehead hockey scribes who know and love Rod wish you the best.

 

Rod's friends have created a Facebook page -- Rod Beaton -- Sportswriter -- where you can become a fan, get updates and post messages.

 

amazing, maria: every time -- for the last 20 years -- i've heard the line, "the heart of rock n'roll is still beatin' ", i've smiled and thought of rod.
always thought it was my own secret joke. never heard anyone else say it, never dared even voice it, because i thought it was so dopey. but it made me think of rod, and i'd sing it and smile.
we were never close -- just press box hang-outs. yet it's very cool how some people stick, how they can stay with you on the flimsy line of a lame pop song...seemingly forever.

 

Please give the following your serious attention. Maria Beaton is a hero of epic proportions. And that's not meant lightly. It's plain to see she doesn't seek attention, but let me tell you, from personal experience, the living nightmare she and her family have endured far surpasses any other kind of adversity we might be facing.

My mom recently passed away following a fairly quick but disastrous, ugly and destructive neurological disease not unlike the kind Rod has suffered from for almost a decade.

The number of years endured and their specific diagnoses separate Rod and my mom but their symptoms are and were all too similar. The alzheimers-like memory loss, the identity-stealing dimentia, the sometimes violent outbursts on unsuspecting loved ones, the constant 24-hour need to be monitored for their own safety, the daily stepdown progression that causes us to witness the most important person in our life disintegrate right before our unbelieving eyes, just to name a few. If there's any disease or affliction that could be termed unfair, theirs is it.

Caretaking for loved ones with these diseases offers a torment that is the caretakers' alone. Doctors can't help, hospice workers are overworked and sometimes fail to meet families' needs and often immediate family lack the coping skills to be involved as much as they should. But the caretaker doesn't have the option of running away or giving up. They are forced to press on every day whether they want to or not. All which leaves someone like Maria fighting the battle alone. It's her new occupation to be the head of the household, to make sure the mortgage is paid and food is available, which is to say nothing about the commitment made and toll taken in caring for the sick one.

Mom went from being happy and healthy to unidentifiable and ultimately gone in a mere four months. That's hard to witness in it's own right, but the Beatons, remember, have seen their world changing for 10 years. That seems unfathomable to me.

There are a lot of people out there doing exactly what Maria is doing, but this should be important to you, if only because Rod is part of the sports writing fraternity. Though I never met him, I always admired his work as a young writer who was enamored with the national bylines found while reading out of town papers in the school library. You can see by the responses here and on his Facebook page that Rod was a real man in a business comprised of little boys.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Maria recently. She didn't seek help or handout. No, she's fighting this by herself. But it was clear she is, as my mom would affectionately say, "one tough broad." She is that, but let me add she's an unsung hero who needs our support in any form.

God bless, Maria, and good luck to you and Rod.

 

Wow! I just now saw this posting, and even though I don't think I ever bumped into Rod, he sounds like an absolutely marvelous, oustanding individual. And Boomer, what can I say? What awesome people. Totally awesome (and I apologize for channeling Jeff Spicoli).

 

Re: News on Rod Beaton (update from Maria Beaton)

I've been remiss since late 2009 to post an update if anyone checks so here it is:
Rod made an about face in December and ditched the wheelchair since January. His speech got better, his hallucinations slowed at least to the point where he KNOWS that the wild pack of dogs attacking the nursing home staff is unreal therefore NOT real, he started eating (7 pie slices in one sitting has been the norm - kitchen staff had to quickly adjust), gave me "that look" when we both heard some politician talking on the news, and is wildly following the Flyers and holding his breath about their must-come-from-behind Stanley Cup chances.
I was not prepared for this. Rod became Rod again! But then again, he still "packs" his belongings 5 times a day, still drools some and still hallucinates. Rod is on a perpetual roadtrip. He's in Canada, or Houston, or Pittsburgh, West Coast, Carribean..more entertaining than the paranoia that sometimes sticks in his brain.
The neurologist thinks the Alzheimers meds (we should ALL be on them) are finally having a beneficial affect after three years. I don't have any other explanation because Rod was going downhill so fast, Hospice was called in. They are still there and we are still waiting. His brain has recovered quite a bit, but not enough for him to come home. He still needs six hands and I'm still unable to handle anymore - my father came down with belligerent Dementia and was gone in 6 months. My mother is in shock and the house was crumbling when we took over. I travel to Delaware almost every weekend to attend to what needs to be done there and then I return and try and see Rod as often as I can, which is never enough for him or me.
Took Rod to a Tex-Mex restaurant for the first time in a year, along with his former wife, Jan, who came to visit. Rod had a great time and I really enjoyed meeting her and having him out. He did NOT need the wheelchair!
Many folks have written, quite a few have visited him and it's all been good for him. Will he recover completely? No, that's never going to be possible. The Parkinson's, although subdued from the electricity flowing to his brain thanks to the pacemaker, continues to deteriorate and Rod has had an uptick in PD symptoms. Treat those symptoms with meds and the hallucinations worsen, the dementia too and he might fall back into his near-death trance. Increase the electricity and the battery depletes (we cannot replace the battery - the surgery will kill him). The battery should have died more than a year ago. There is no way to know how much juice is left. So the doctor found a new alternative: Botox! Yes, Botox injections in his legs will relieve the pain that Parkinson's causes in his legs, arms and back.
If things continue going well, I want to bring him home for an afternoon on the deck, hotdogs and a baseball game on the radio. If that turns out well, we'll try the beach next.
That is, if I can still handle the weekend commute to Wilmington, ten hour work days and everything else that normal life throws at you.
That is it for now.

 

This is good news. Hang in there Rod.

 

Amen to that.

 

Like I said: Seldom Beaton! (Or was that Never Beaton?)

Boomer, this is great, great news! Thanx for sharing.