On August 14, of last year, Mary Lou "Judi" Rudersmith, 73, rounded third and headed for home.  Born in the Bronx on November 9, 1950, to Theresa (Bruen) and Robert Beck, Judi grew up in the shadow of two older brothers, and the old Yankee Stadium. Besides becoming a lifelong New York Yankees fanatic, she fell in love with the American pastime. 'Jude' played softball her whole life, playing slow and fast pitch, co-ed and all women, first with her mother and then her daughter, finally retiring from first base for good well into her 60s. And heaven forbid you call her on summer nights when the Yanks were on TV.

Because you can't play ball year round, Judi was also an elite bowler, bowling for decades at Amherst Center Lanes, Fuzzy's Sports Bowl, and Starway Lanes. Many of Judi's lifelong friends became so because of her love of bowling.

Not to be sidelined by those activities, Judi actively participated in her children's lives, at one time or another becoming a PTA member, a Boy Scouts den mother, Pack 933 Den Leader, Girl Scouts parent, Brownies troop co-leader, softball coach of my 10- and 15-year-old teams, Tuslaw Little League president, Chief Umpire, and finally scorekeeper for the Tuslaw Girls Volleyball and Softball Teams in my freshman and sophomore years. Judi was never one to close a door, and she and Dad often invited kids into our lives to mentor and drown with love. We even took one to Disney.

Because how could all of that possibly keep her busy, Judi was an incredibly creative and talented hobbyist, creating ceramics, beadwork, leatherwork, and woodwork, and sewing our clothes as children and our costumes for Halloween. I have a specific memory of her quilting the yellow blanket she made for me as she watched her "stories", probably General Hospital.

She was also an incredibly talented indoor and outdoor gardener, especially caring for her beloved African violets. Judi never let a dead houseplant keep her from loving the next one. She also taught herself how to tile and tiled our entire bathroom by herself.

All of this? After 5. From 9-5 Monday through Friday, you could find Judi in the office of either Ohio Paper Products  (where she met Larry), or Hills Department store, where she worked tirelessly for several years as the Office Manager.

On the weekends as children, we went camping, first in Newcomerstown and then wherever travel ball brought us. After becoming empty nesters, she indulged her lifelong fishing obsession, and my parents kept a pontoon boat at Atwood Lake for 19 years.

Judi was an avid collector of Coca-Cola memorabilia, and loved receiving new finds as gifts. She was also an avid collector of Dalmatians, first the dogs, and then anything Dalmatian related. Judi would say all her dogs were her favorite, but those of us that know, know that big Dalmatian Rudy was always the one. She was never long without a dog, but she stopped adopting Dals after he crossed the Bridge.

But the thing she loved most of all was her family, and her reward for not killing us in our teens was her beloved grandsons, Christian, father to her great-granddaughter Sophia, of Wadsworth, and John Belak, who currently resides in Utah.

The love of her life, though, was Dad. After meeting at work, Larry and Judi eloped on October 16, 1976, and moved us down the street from Grandpa and Grandma; Delores and the late Loren Rudersmith, who called her Ralph. My parents literally never had a single fight, and enjoyed nearly 48 years of marriage at the time of her death.

In that house we grew up, we moved out, moved back in, became estranged and then reabsorbed, had kids, had fights, had hard feelings, and hard love, from the MOST mother in the world.

We miss her every day, and we love her most of the time, and we're still doin' the work, trying to live up to her expectations. Love you, Ma.