Success

I went to high school in a small town. There were two high schools there. The public school and the catholic school. We were not catholic, so I went to the public school. I had a graduating class of 236. The other high school had a graduating class of 24.

As in all small towns, high school sports were a big deal. Every Friday night the whole town would gather to watch the varsity team play the game of the season. Basketball, Football, Volleyball, Baseball, Hockey, Wrestling...the sport didn't matter. It was a gathering for the town.

For over 50 years, one of the fixtures at every game was a local man who was severely mentally handicapped. I don't know exactly what was wrong, but he was far from being functional. Yet, every game he was there in the front row cheering on the team. Both teams. And all the players.

He sat in the front row, right at the end of the bench so he could give high-5's to the players as they came off the floor. He huddled with the teams. He cheered with the cheerleaders. He riled up the crowd. He was the honorary mascot. And he never missed a game.

He couldn't drive. And he didn't have the balance to ride a bike. So he walked everywhere he went. He wouldn't take rides from anyone, and often the temperatures were below zero. Yet, everyone knew that if there was a game in town, he would be there.

He died last night. He was 62 years old.

He never held a job. He never married. He never had children. He never learned to read or write. His speech was difficult to understand. But he touched the lives of generations of kids through his dedication to the small things. His life was cheering on the home team.

In my life I have achieved many of the things that he never could. Yet, I doubt I will ever be a fraction of what he accomplished. It is not the size of his mind, but the size of his spirit, upon which he is measured.