La Conner Weekly News - Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper

Believe it or not, I was a star athlete in high school. My senior year I was an all-county linebacker, an undefeated wrestler and a catcher in baseball who batted .517. There were scouts at all of my baseball games but I decided instead to go to Colgate University on a football scholarship but only played freshman year because I was 5’ 8” tall and weighed 175 pounds.

Now at age 76, I play golf and tennis and pickleball and work out twice weekly in a gym with very healthy equipment. As a resident of Shelter Bay, I always have a basketball and a tennis racket in my car and I stop and shoot baskets and hit tennis balls against the wall. I keep a couple of golf clubs in my car because I love the beautiful nine-hole par 3 golf course.

Let’s be realistic. No matter how good an athlete you might have been, you will reach a point in your life when you ain’t hittin’ the ball out of the park. Maybe my mind will dwindle before my body so it won’t devastate me when I drive by the golf course and can’t swing a club.

Right now I’m sitting in an airplane on a flight to Los Angeles for a celebration of life of a very close friend of mine who died suddenly last week. Peter Werner, a very successful Oscar-winning film director, was teaching film in North Carolina and showed no signs of illness and suddenly died of a heart attack.

This is a devastating loss for his family and friends, but also offers a lesson to be learned. Be thankful for whatever time you have on this planet. From what we can tell from our vantage point, despite how expansive the universe is, we see no other signs of life like ours. We have to be extremely grateful that our parents made love when they did and we are the beneficiaries.

The best way to demonstrate your gratitude is to support people who are struggling. You can help others financially and with compassion Teach your children well by setting a good example.

Because we do not live in a socialist country, we have a tremendous gap between rich and poor. If you have been blessed with success, you will not have to look too far wherever you live to find good people who would greatly appreciate your contributing time and money to help ease the pain they are experiencing.