(Captain Blowdri in the B-757 cockpit)
It has been 41 years since my high school graduation, which makes me the class of 1969! That can only mean that I am staring at my 60th birthday in February. My two sons are now grown men, Jason is 36 and Jeremy is 32 years old. Additionally, Jeremy now has two children of his own, a son named Cole and daughter named Hannah. Yep that makes me a very proud grandfather!
How can all this be so, I have asked my self many times? It wasn’t long ago that I was on the field of the McLane High School football stadium watching and listening as The McLane Highlander’s “Pipe and Drum Corp” marched into the stadium playing “Scotland The Brave“ for the senior graduation ceremony! It was the last time that I would have the privilege to hear those bagpipes as a student of McLane High School!
My how fast the time whizzes by! I remember anxiously awaiting each Fall Friday night. Oh how we used to live for “Tonight”! Well now I am almost 60 years old and all those “tonight’s” have come and gone in a rapid blur! I know that I echo the thought for almost all of my contemporaries in saying, “Man I wished that I could have just one of those “tonight’s” back! I would give anything to relive that senior year, those Friday night dances, the fun of it all, the camaraderie, the excitement of the football, basketball, and baseball games, spinning donuts with my red 1965 VW with a loud stinger exhaust in the fog, on the grassy area by the swimming pool and gym, oooppps, I never got caught for that!!! I surely hope that the statute of limitations has passed!! Those were “the good old days”!
Well looking back, there are more “tonight’s” behind me than there are “tonight’s” in front of me. Nevertheless, I have spent a lot of time lately thinking about my legacy.
What is my legacy?
I am not sure that I have the answer. Do people remember you for your honesty, your humor, your loyalty, your hard work? Just what is it that we want people to remember us for?
Is there an answer for that question? I believe that the answer for the question, “what is my legacy?”, is for others to figure out.
Nevertheless, I do know one thing for sure.
It is not what you take with you when you leave this earth, but it is what you leave behind when you’re gone!
Please take some time to watch this video below. Pay close attention to the coach’s talk to his players, it rings oh so true to life! Listen to the lyrics of Kenny Chesney’s song, I promise you it will stir emotions in your soul that may have laid dormant for years! If this song and video doesn’t do for you, then I guess that I am just an old sentimental softie!!
Remember, life is a journey, not a guided tour! The decisions that you make today, follow all the days of your life!
Dream big and give it your all!
Long live the “Boys of Fall”!
I too am a graduate of this fine establishment. Only I was part of the “Pipe and Drum” corp. For my Junior year I was on the field bringing those “Seniors” to tears with great pleasure only to be in tears the following year. Being a member of this elite group brought great joy and pride not only to myself but to my fellow alum. And those “tonights”, yes, I wish I could have those back. Never once did I make my curfew back to the house. But, it was worth it. I encourage ALL the kids I run into, to “do it all” in High School, or at least try. You only get to be there once.
I too am a graduate of this fine establishment. Only I was part of the “Pipe and Drum” corp. For my Junior year I was on the field bringing those “Seniors” to tears with great pleasure only to be in tears the following year. Being a member of this elite group brought great joy and pride not only to myself but to my fellow alum. And those “tonights”, yes, I wish I could have those back. Never once did I make my curfew back to the house. But, it was worth it. I encourage ALL the kids I run into, to “do it all” in High School, or at least try. You only get to be there once.
Man, does that take me back to High School days at Clovis High and Fresno State as an athlete listening to great coaches fire us up. Some of the things said on the video I said at one time or another during my 30 year coaching career I wonder today if my athletes still remember some of my talks they indured in the locker room. Down deep, I really think some of the things I said stuck home and are remembered today.
Man, does that take me back to High School days at Clovis High and Fresno State as an athlete listening to great coaches fire us up. Some of the things said on the video I said at one time or another during my 30 year coaching career I wonder today if my athletes still remember some of my talks they indured in the locker room. Down deep, I really think some of the things I said stuck home and are remembered today.
Well, I have memories too. Our family lived sports growing up,then living it while raising my own children. My father played baseball and baskeball in school, then had his sons and taught them all he knew. His fingers were a little broken up from catching baseballs as a kid, but he could still catch any ball his sons pitched to him.
I was in the first Sophmore class at McLane in 1959 when the school opened. Our class was the beginning of the making of the school song, bag pipers and dancers. What a time that was.
I tried to get all five of my children to participate in all school functions and dances. The sports programs were a big success, but the dances weren’t that important to them. What fun they were to watch as babies learning to toss a ball, swing a bat and run. I would be the catcher, even as they were teenagers, but had to put a pad in the golve to tolerate the sting as the ball hit the glove.
Between my brothers and my own children, we had baseball, basketball, track, wrestling and football games to attend. I felt like I was in a body position, like when driving, all the time. If there wasn’t a practice, there was a game. The trip into town was 10 miles one way. (The eternal position of sitting and driving).
I went to games from the time I was a little girl, then as a mother watching my sons play. At home, if we didn’t have a baseball, I taught the kids how to make a sock ball with old socks. We had many of those kinds of balls growing up and this was passed on to my clan. I still like to watch them play, what good times we had in all the years of warm ups and playing some kind of sport.
Zeeva
Well, I have memories too. Our family lived sports growing up,then living it while raising my own children. My father played baseball and baskeball in school, then had his sons and taught them all he knew. His fingers were a little broken up from catching baseballs as a kid, but he could still catch any ball his sons pitched to him.
I was in the first Sophmore class at McLane in 1959 when the school opened. Our class was the beginning of the making of the school song, bag pipers and dancers. What a time that was.
I tried to get all five of my children to participate in all school functions and dances. The sports programs were a big success, but the dances weren’t that important to them. What fun they were to watch as babies learning to toss a ball, swing a bat and run. I would be the catcher, even as they were teenagers, but had to put a pad in the golve to tolerate the sting as the ball hit the glove.
Between my brothers and my own children, we had baseball, basketball, track, wrestling and football games to attend. I felt like I was in a body position, like when driving, all the time. If there wasn’t a practice, there was a game. The trip into town was 10 miles one way. (The eternal position of sitting and driving).
I went to games from the time I was a little girl, then as a mother watching my sons play. At home, if we didn’t have a baseball, I taught the kids how to make a sock ball with old socks. We had many of those kinds of balls growing up and this was passed on to my clan. I still like to watch them play, what good times we had in all the years of warm ups and playing some kind of sport.
Zeeva
Thanks Leon for ringing some of my memory bells. I pitched for Madera and never had a coach that could inspire me as other schools had. I got to admit, it was a great time and you stirred the cobwebs and made me think back to those days. Uhmmm did I ever pitch against you? I remember losing a game to McClane to a home run by Lamannuzi (?) in the 8th.
Thanks Leon for ringing some of my memory bells. I pitched for Madera and never had a coach that could inspire me as other schools had. I got to admit, it was a great time and you stirred the cobwebs and made me think back to those days. Uhmmm did I ever pitch against you? I remember losing a game to McClane to a home run by Lamannuzi (?) in the 8th.