By Jerold E. Rothkoff

"The game of baseball has always been linked in my mind with the mystic texture of childhood, with the sounds and smells of summer nights and the memories of my father."— Doris Kearns Goodwin

he first official game at the Phillies' new ballpark, Citizens Bank Park, is scheduled for April 12, 2004. I therefore thought the beginning of a new era for baseball in Philadelphia would be a perfect time to digress from the usual elder law topics, and instead write an article about baseball.

Those who know me well understand I have three main passions in life: my family, elder law, and baseball. This article will encompass all three of these passions.

Typically, a caregiver child who has increasing difficulty in dealing with the financial, emotional and medical issues involving an ailing parent contacts us for assistance. The caregiver child is distraught at watching the once active parent succumb to dementia or Alzheimer's disease and is torn by the potential for nursing home placement. In many cases, the parent may not come to the initial consultation. However, as an elder law attorney, my client is always the elderly parent. Therefore, I always visit the client in his/her home, assisted living residence or nursing home.

Upon visiting the client, my first goal is to make the client comfortable with me. I begin to talk about what he/she did for a living and what his/her hobbies are. Invariably, especially in the case of male clients, we begin to talk baseball. If the client grew up in Brooklyn, we talk about the old Brooklyn Dodgers and Ebbets Field. In this fashion, I am better able to understand the relationship between father and son/daughter. I attempt to use baseball as a mechanism to bring the family together during a possible crisis situation.

Similarly, my father, Leonard Rothkoff, taught me to love the game of baseball. My father died in 1997 at the age of 57. Some of my fondest memories of my father surround the game of baseball. My dad was a baseball purist. He insisted on keeping score at every game he took me to at Veteran's Stadium. I will always remember our trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame when we each saw our respective childhood idols, Richie Ashburn and Mike Schmidt, inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. I still remember as if it were yesterday our embrace sitting in the 700 level at the Vet after the Phillies won the 1993 Pennant against the Atlanta Braves.

About two weeks before my father's death, in anticipation of his 58th birthday, I attended a baseball card show in which Robin Roberts, the Phillies Hall of Fame pitcher, was signing his new book on the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies. I had the book autographed by Robin Roberts as a birthday present for my dad. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to give him his present. However, that book will always be linked to the wonderful memories of my father.

I am sure that many of you have had similar experiences with your parents. Each of you bring your wonderful memories of your