Mireles Family Notes: January 2007

By DAWN GEHRIG, as told to HOWARD M. UNGER
Published in the New York Times: January 5, 2007

My grandfather, Theodore Anton Gehrig Sr., was Lou Gehrig’s first cousin.

When I was a girl, Grandpa would tell us that when he was growing up in Milwaukee, he’d go to Lou’s games whenever Lou passed through town on barnstorming tours. Grandpa, who’s been gone awhile, used to say that I should write Eleanor, Lou’s widow. I wish I’d done it — but I didn’t want to seem as if I were being greedy or wanted something from her.

So today, we don’t have anything from Lou through the family. But there’s eBay. In fact, I wish I’d started with it earlier.

Before, it was hard to find Lou Gehrig stuff here in Wisconsin, although sometimes I’d find specialty shops with things like limited-edition plates or ornaments. My sister would also try to find stuff, but she’s not into it as much as I am. Here at my house in Racine, we have a room downstairs with all the Lou Gehrig memorabilia I’ve bought off eBay. The mailman is probably getting mad at me by now.

We have about 75 items, including figurines, books, old newspaper articles and advertisements featuring Lou, items with Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth together — all things I want to pass on to my children. My dad, who’s 81, is excited about it. He didn’t collect Lou Gehrig stuff when he was younger; he had a hard enough time raising eight of us kids. My family, especially my mom and my aunt, likes to see the new stuff I’ve gotten every time they come by. The pictures are all up on the wall, and in one of the bedrooms I have a shelf with all the books and figurines.

I get a lot of e-mail from eBay sellers who see my name and ask me if I’m related to Lou. They’re surprised that I am, since Lou didn’t have any brothers or sisters who made it past childhood, and also because he and Eleanor didn’t have any children. Grandpa’s dad was a brother of Lou’s dad. It’s a distant relationship, but it’s there. The eBay sellers seem glad when something they sell goes to the Gehrig family.

I spend a couple of hours online every day and check my auctions about four times a day. Sometimes, when I see something with Lou’s name on it, I think to myself, “Wow, that’s my name up there.”

The first item I ever purchased was a gold coin with Lou’s picture on it, but one of the items I cherish most is a photo of him giving his farewell speech on Lou Gehrig Day. He’s at home plate, scratching his head, and all of the old-time microphones are there. The photo isn’t an original print, but it’s a limited edition.

I’ve also got a Lou Gehrig pocketknife, a talking Christmas ornament and a picture of Lou dressed up as a cowboy in the 1938 Western “Rawhide.” He looks real funny dressed in leather like that.

Of the newspaper ads, one has Lou selling Williams Shaving Cream, which was supposed to “take the starch out of whiskers.” Another is of him selling Camel cigarettes. Then there’s one for Royal Crown Cola that says the soda was Lou’s secret for hitting home runs.

I’ve got a 1932 newspaper from when the Yankees beat the Chicago Cubs in the World Series.

I couldn’t believe it when I first saw them, but now I also have three different bobbleheads. They’re all in their boxes, and that’s where they’re going to stay. I want to get an autographed ball one day, but those are getting pretty high-priced. They go for about $10,000 each. Maybe I’ll win the lottery.

My husband, Mike, is a big Cubs fan, but he’s gotten me more into collecting stuff about Lou. We argue over the Cubs and the Yankees all the time. I argue for the Yankees, of course, because of the family.

We have two kids who already carry on the pride of the family name. The eBay stuff is for them to have. Our son, Felix Theodore Mireles III, is 25, married and expecting his first child. He’s named after my dad and Grandpa.

My daughter, Amanda, who’s 22, has been through a lot in her short life. She’s had Hodgkin’s lymphoma, avascular necrosis and cancer and has had chemo, radiation and a bone-marrow transplant. Through all that, she went to college and had a son, but he passed away after fighting hard for 13 days. We say that he had Lou’s strength to hang on that long. Everyone called him the “miracle boy.” It is so amazing to me to watch my child go though all of this and be so very strong. She definitely has the Gehrig courage and talks about using the Gehrig name as a middle name if she has another child.

It may be hard to believe, but I have never been to Yankee Stadium or visited Lou’s grave in Valhalla, N.Y. I absolutely hope to do it someday. I’m very proud of the family name. That’s one of the reasons why I kept my maiden name. I come from a long line of courageous and humble people. That’s why I admire Lou’s humility. He was very humble, a great man.

I think of my father that way, and I think of my grandfather that way too. I wish I asked my grandfather more questions about him and Lou when I was growing up.

As you get older, things like that mean a lot more.