Back when I was a kid, when Springboro had only two traffic lights,
two schools and two police cruisers, my classmates and I were given 15
minutes of freedom two times every school day to do as we pleased, so
long as we stayed on school property.
The scholars might have said education was all about reading, writing and arithmetic, but we thought it was about recess.
When the wondrous moment finally arrived, we burst out the back door
like dogs that found an open gate. We played football, searched for
frogs, ran races, swung high on the swing set, played tag, ignored
girls, told jokes and did back flips off the monkey bars (okay, that’s a
stretch), all right up until the teachers raised their hands and told
us it was time to go back to the grind.
Thankfully, Mr. C. Gordon always let us get a drink of water. “Take your time, but hurry,” he’d say.
I remember it as a time of innocence, boundless energy and fun.
On a field on the edge of town.
…
…
BY HIGH SCHOOL, MY family had moved. That meant I was a Franklin
Wildcat instead of a Springboro Panther, something I never dreamed would
happen. In the beginning, I thought the change might be the worst thing
that ever happened to me. But in time, I realized just the opposite was
true.
As a senior, I remember a Saturday doubleheader (against
Springboro), when I looked around, embracing the moment, comprehending
the changes, and realizing — surprisingly — that everything had actually
turned out pretty well.
I had excellent teachers, great friends,
and a ton of memories that would stay with me for the rest of my life. I
would forever have two hometowns, not just one.
Doug Long,
Franklin’s legendary baseball coach for 30 years, did more than
emphasize baseball principles such as hustling, hitting and hanging on
when times were tough. Instead, he instilled life lessons in us.
We were leaders, he would say. So act it.
We led best by serving, he added. So be helpful.
And never, ever fail to appreciate the opportunities you have been given, he concluded. So be grateful.
By the end of that Saturday doubleheader, after we had been fortunate
to take both games, I sat in the dugout watching the Springboro bus
drive away. It occurred to me it could have been me riding in that bus,
and I’m sure my life would have been just fine if it had. But because of
the move, I came to know a whole different group of really good people,
guys who have been my friends for life.
Why was I so lucky? Who
could have foreseen such a turn of events? I may have grown up having
“The Heart of the Panthers,” but because of the move to Franklin, I
would forever know what it means to be “Once A Wildcat, Always A
Wildcat.”
I packed away my cleans and glove. I felt a sense of achievement, and satisfaction of a job well done.
At a field on the edge of town.
…
…
I DO NOT KNOW THE day or the hour, but I know it will come. Any stress,
anxiety, doubt, worry or regret that has ever troubled my earthly
existence will forever leave my soul, and in its place will be a
heavenly total peace and a perfect love — the kind that is so absolutely
amazing that I cannot possibly describe it.
I will be so
overcome by God’s comforting and overpowering love that I will be
instantly transformed into a presence that I never thought was possible.
I will be assured that despite all my thoughts to the contrary, my life
indeed had a purpose and my actions in fact made a difference (as does
yours). This will result in me saying “Really?” about 15,642 times.
More importantly, I will instantly know that the loved ones I left
behind will be all right, despite their moments of extreme sadness. Time
moves much more quickly in eternity. Plus, in a figurative sense, I
will have seen the end of the movie, or read the last chapter of the
book, and know that God had it right when he inspired the words “Fear
not” to be included 365 times in the Bible.
I could write an
entire book on what I imagine heaven will be like, and maybe one day I
will have the chance to put it on paper.
When my life flashes
before my eyes, I will see faces of wonderful people who have meant so
much to me through the years —my wife Kim, my children Adam and Chloe,
my parents, my brothers and sisters and their children, and all my
friends and acquaintances. I will also see the places I have been and
the things I have done.
And I will see fields. In addition to the
school playground and the Franklin baseball field, I will see the
soccer fields my children played games on, the golf courses I played
around on (hacked, to be more accurate), the campsites I have watched
the stars on, and the football fields I have witnessed greatness on.
Life on earth is awesome. I cannot wait to see what is next.
Through it all, I will see one more image, a large piece of a stone with my name written on it.
In a field on the edge of town.