I’m not as comfortable telling stories as I am writing them, but I’ll take every opportunity I can get to talk about the people I know, the things I have seen, and the moments that make both of them special.
I had fun Saturday night at the Springboro Hall of Fame ceremony, when Sean Welsh, Sean Kennedy, Ryan Coates and Coach Paul Bohaboy were inducted. In addition to introducing those who are the best of the best, I talked about life lessons that punctuate all of our lives, and thus come up every day when I am in the courtroom. Each lesson can be best illustrated by — of course — good stories, many times from the world of sports.
1. Sometimes we are called to be pioneers.
I remember attending the parade for the 1965 Springboro basketball team that made it all the way to the state finals. They were a band of talented players and coaches who had no experience getting that far in the tournament. In that same year Springboro started its football program. Both teams went boldly where no previous teams had ever gone before. The lesson is that sometimes all we can do is put our head down, do our best, and believe that everything will go our way. I love stories that encourage people to do that.
2. Children only have one childhood. Help make it a good one.
I remember in the early 70s walking to varsity games, sitting along the sidelines, laughing in the lunchroom, getting milkshakes at the K&W, camping out in the summer, playing ball at the park, and living in the same neighborhood as what seemed like 500 of my closest friends. I had an incredible childhood. The lesson now is to encourage adults to let their children have an incredible childhood, too. Protect them from conflict. Let them be little.
3. Don’t focus on being perfect. Be the best you can be.
While in college, I became a sportswriter for a weekly newspaper that covered Springboro, Franklin, and Carlisle. Yeah, that’s me in the photograph 35 years ago. I got paid to watch games, talk to the participants, and then write about it. I witnessed countless excellent players who were incredibly talented and willing to work hard to be the best they could be, despite their mistakes. That’s a lesson because too many times I encounter people who feel bad or want to quit because they have not done everything perfectly. But the standard is not perfection. It’s being the best you can be.
4. You never know who is watching.
Once I became an attorney, I became a husband and a father, so I became an observer from the stands once again. It was a reminder that kids are always watching, and always learning. They look up to the people in their lives for guidance on how to overcome obstacles and succeed. So that generated another truckload of stories. It is a lesson that the pee wee players of today can be motivated by the varsity players, the same way children can be influenced by their parents. Be responsible.
5. Don’t stop believing.
When my daughter Chloe was a senior at Springboro, she was a varsity cheerleader. Since I was going to be at all the games, I figured I could be a writer again. I was given this front row, behind-the-scenes, in-depth involvement that was beyond anything I could imagine. And I felt part of an undefeated football team and a league champion, District champion basketball team that overcame difficult circumstances. Those teams modeled what people need to hear every day — don’t stop believing, because very often the positive change will come five minutes after you are ready to quit.
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In the interest of brevity, I have offered the Reader’s Digest version of all of these principles here. I could go on and on…and on.
I love all these stories. I enjoy finding new ones. I often feel like a magnet, always observing, listening, and feeling them as they cling to my soul.
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WHEN I WAS a kid growing up in Springboro, my dream was to be a superstar — someone whose name was always in the headlines. But that never happened, partly because my family moved to Franklin but mainly because I played more like Dr. Seuss than Dr. J.
I never got that one great story to tell about myself.
But God had other plans for me and made me a writer.
Now I have a million of them.