Skip to main content

Do Only Our Best

 


Do Only Our Best
When I was in elementary school there was this little boy.  Yes, he was maybe as little as I was back then, even in fifth grade. His brown burnt tinge colored hair lay on top of his high Irish freckled, sunny, Catholic face. It's as though I just saw him yesterday. That yesterday being nearly fifty years ago. You see I describe Kevin, Kevin McCormick,  that was his name.  I describe him as I see him in my mind's eye, from when we were kids. 

The crippled, yet happy go-lucky boy, properly dressed,  properly quaffed, walking to school with such extraordinary jerky motion in every stride of his walk.

He was the nice boy.  From what I understood,  he came from a strict upbringing. I gather it was due to the large Catholic family he was born into. I don't ever recall Kevin being called to the Principall's office,  nor receiving detention. His perpetual smile remains with me.

What this all brings me to is, and no I don't mean to sound like we need to give out more trophies,  like for 6th place. Nope, not going there. But, what's fair is fair.  However,  if "What's fair IS fair'. Then tell me this: Why oh why aren't the Paralympics on regular national television, as the Olympics of the more fortunately able graced athletes were just a few weeks ago? Not the extra channels you have to pay for. I'll wait...

Believe it or not, I look forward to watching all athletes in whatever their achievements with or without noticeable struggles. Why? Because it's the human spirit we need to witness that at times provides us more life.  Yes, there is more to life than what we view as perfection.

Perfection is not really where it's at. It's the survival beyond the seemingly perfect that matters.---Jody-Lynn Reicher 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

2023 Holiday Letter from the Reicher's

Well, I didn't think I'd be doing a Holiday Letter this year, but here goes... The Spirit of Norm is in the air. As the wind whips with minus a true snowstorm.  In hopes the Farmers Almanac was correct, I pray to the snow gods. Rain ensued the month of December thus far. We have nearly tripled the amount of rainfall usual for December in New Jersey. And I've witnessed its treachery. Storms such as these hit us hardest in July. Then remained fairly intense through til about early October.  Our daughters are doing well, Thank God.  Their Dad would be proud of them. Our oldest Sarah, now a Junior at UCLA pursuing her degree in Chemical Engineering. She's digging the whole California scene. Which I thought it was for her. She's had some good traveling on her off times from school. For her March 2023 week off, she drove her and a few friends out to Lake Tahoe and went downhill skiing for a first in nearly 5 years. She had to rent the ski equipment.  Funny enough when ...

"It’s the Hardest Thing..."

My friend since 1996, neighbor and pet care person texted back, "It's the hardest thing...". She texted back the morning just hours prior to my decision to have our last pet euthanized. It's not something I'd ever done. Although I've been told I have a killer instinct. Which I've discovered over the past 20 years that would be true. A promoter said that to my fight coach after my first cage fight. The promoter saw the charged smile on my face after I'd just lost to a decision. I am disciplined, so thank God for that. My feeling is we all have that, but not the amount I've discovered I have, and most certainly most do not have the obsessive level of discipline I have had or have. Fast forward to yesterday afternoon holding our bunny for quite sometime before her sedation in a veterinary treatment room.  About 20 minutes later the vet and vet tech arrived finding a spot to inject a sedative into our pet bunny. They said it would take ten minutes, th...

June 12th 2025

  Finally getting our oldest on the phone. "Mom! Chill! A man faceplanted on the ground. Blood was everywhere. It was so bloody Mom. We helped him."  She continues her hyper mode annoyed I called/texted 6x in one hour when no response was received from them. You know that parenting Mom thingy.  Oldest: "Didn't she tell you? We're doing pictures near sunset." She remarked, annoyed. Me/Mom: "Oh. Wow. Okay. And Thank you for being kind."  That's what I was reduced to. Hours later... Youngest explains now in my hotel room. Me/Mom: "So, what happened?" Youngest: "Mom, I thought he was like praying. He was laying facedown." Me/Mom: "Oh. Did it just happen?" Youngest: "People were passing by. But we didn't see the faceplant. As I approached, I realized he wasn't praying... you know like some religions do at certain times." Me thinking... I guess that ten years in the morning of teaching the kids religi...