A Fond Farewell
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=thompson_wright&id=2543513&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos3
It's reading stories like this that give me hope. Hope about love. Hope about meaning of life. Hope about what's really important for true happiness. Some people really do spend forever together. Prior to reading this story, I couldn't tell you who Elden Auker was other than knowing my baseball history trivia questions & knowing he was the last living person to strike out Babe Ruth. Otherwise, in reading the article, I came to learn than Auker managed to win 130 games as a pitcher in the big leagues. Even more impressive was that of those 130 wins, he had 126 complete games. Now thats impressive considering the active leader is Roger Clemens who has 118 complete games while winning 345 games.
Was he a great pitcher? No. But the most important factor is that Auker was a great man. It makes me think of a generation long past that valued life & priorities with family as the true measure of success. Personal success is great, no one wants to fail. But to say that this man was not a success because he didn't make the Hall of Fame or win more games or make more money playing ball is a misnomer that is a gross inaccuracy.
Wrap your mind around this...Elden & Mildred Auker spent 73 years married to one another. The first time in nearly a 3/4 of a CENTURY these two spent apart was when Elden passed away. Yeah, you read that right; they were together as husband & wife for nearly 3/4 of a century.
We live in a day & age where some people suggest that 4-6 0f all marriages will end in divorce at some point in the span of the relationship. Where 5-10 years is a major milestone. Yet not only did these two manage to marry & stay together, they were inseparable for nearly three quarters of a century. I know what you'll say; it was a different time & a different world. Maybe that's true. But you make the best of what you have & the time you live in.
There is no going back & you don't know what will become of the future, so you do the very best with what you have right now. I can only imagine that kind of love & devotion right now. I haven't experienced it, but I certainly have high hopes of finding someone that will let me love her that much. Finding someone that I can be so devoted to that their unadulterated happiness is what I'll find the most success in. Leaving this world a better place because I was able to live the fullest life possible being the best man I could be & loving as deeply as humanly possible. I believe that can happen for me. It's a great feeling & once you get it, you get greedy for it. You want it everyday and all you want to do is feel that passion. Passion for life, passion for love, Passion of the Christ, wait never mind that last one.
There was some good advice in the article that I want to specifically point out for you right now.
It's reading stories like this that give me hope. Hope about love. Hope about meaning of life. Hope about what's really important for true happiness. Some people really do spend forever together. Prior to reading this story, I couldn't tell you who Elden Auker was other than knowing my baseball history trivia questions & knowing he was the last living person to strike out Babe Ruth. Otherwise, in reading the article, I came to learn than Auker managed to win 130 games as a pitcher in the big leagues. Even more impressive was that of those 130 wins, he had 126 complete games. Now thats impressive considering the active leader is Roger Clemens who has 118 complete games while winning 345 games.
Was he a great pitcher? No. But the most important factor is that Auker was a great man. It makes me think of a generation long past that valued life & priorities with family as the true measure of success. Personal success is great, no one wants to fail. But to say that this man was not a success because he didn't make the Hall of Fame or win more games or make more money playing ball is a misnomer that is a gross inaccuracy.
Wrap your mind around this...Elden & Mildred Auker spent 73 years married to one another. The first time in nearly a 3/4 of a CENTURY these two spent apart was when Elden passed away. Yeah, you read that right; they were together as husband & wife for nearly 3/4 of a century.
We live in a day & age where some people suggest that 4-6 0f all marriages will end in divorce at some point in the span of the relationship. Where 5-10 years is a major milestone. Yet not only did these two manage to marry & stay together, they were inseparable for nearly three quarters of a century. I know what you'll say; it was a different time & a different world. Maybe that's true. But you make the best of what you have & the time you live in.
There is no going back & you don't know what will become of the future, so you do the very best with what you have right now. I can only imagine that kind of love & devotion right now. I haven't experienced it, but I certainly have high hopes of finding someone that will let me love her that much. Finding someone that I can be so devoted to that their unadulterated happiness is what I'll find the most success in. Leaving this world a better place because I was able to live the fullest life possible being the best man I could be & loving as deeply as humanly possible. I believe that can happen for me. It's a great feeling & once you get it, you get greedy for it. You want it everyday and all you want to do is feel that passion. Passion for life, passion for love, Passion of the Christ, wait never mind that last one.
There was some good advice in the article that I want to specifically point out for you right now.
"Never go to bed without telling your wife you love her, never go to bed angry."
That's good advice...
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