Leroy ‘Satchel’ Paige was a legendary baseball player in the old Negro League who is perhaps best known for saying: “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.”  

Well, anyone who knows me well knows that I don’t spend a whole lot of time looking back. Like most of you, my life is far too hectic on a day to day basis to pause and reflect. I’m just trying to keep up.

However, in a little more than a month, June 21^st, Cindy and I will be celebrating a milestone anniversary. To commemorate this occasion, I spent hour after hour scanning photos and uploading them to Shutterfly.com. It was truly a labor of love, and the finished product is a photo diary of the past three decades. It’s over 90 pages, with up to six photos on each page, essentially a chronological look at our lives through pictures. 

Rarely do you sit down and spend hours looking back at so many different moments of your life. I would highly recommend that you do it. You don’t need to put it all in one book, just take a moment and take a look back. It’s impossible to catalogue all the emotions that you’ll feel. I felt sad as I saw pictures of my Dad, who’s been gone for 22 years now. I laughed out loud at the pictures of Cindy and me dressed up for Halloween parties and I sat amazed and stared at myself with dark brown hair and a beard that was as black as night. Man, I’m getting old. But the photos that truly stirred my soul were the ones of our children. Knowing what fine young adults they’ve become only allowed me to relish these pictures even more. Fleeting moments captured on film that mean very little at the time, turn out to mean very much years later. From Little League games to dance recitals to trips to Disney, all families live moments like these. Well, almost all families. 

See, as I was putting this book together, I came across a treasure trove of pictures from the first couple of Miracle Marathons back in 1998 and 1999. What struck me was how many of those little ones have since passed on. I slowly flipped through those pictures and looked closely at their smiling faces. I can still hear them and I can still remember some of the things they told us. I can remember one little boy comforting his own Mom as she cried while describing what he was going through. Then, it hit me. How cruel life can be. Here I was, looking back fondly and reminiscing about all those great memories. Memories that, with God’s grace, we continue to make. But life has not been as kind to everyone.  

I can’t imagine the pain that losing a child brings. To know that you can never make any new memories with those precious little ones who have passed on. And how about all those parents who deal with catastrophic injuries or congenital defects? The sadness in knowing that no matter how hard you try, you can’t fix it. It’s impossible to understand what families that frequent Children’s Hospital must go through. 

But one group does understand. The compassionate and dedicated caregivers at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin provide a level of expertise and emotional support that is beyond compare. They have dedicated their lives to making life better for sick children and their families. And the Miracle Marathon helps them do that. Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin’s biggest fund raiser each and every year is the ‘Dave & Carole Miracle Marathon’ on ‘KLH. This year our 60 hour radio-thon starts on May 26^th and runs through May 28^th.  So take a moment and reflect on all those memories you have made with your family. And don’t ever take that for granted, because in the words of Satchel Paige, “something might be gaining on you.” 

Please take a moment and become a member of the Miracle Club. It’s one of the few chances you’ll ever have to truly make a difference. 

https://www.chw.org/display/PPF/DocID/43852/Nav/0/router.asp

With Mother’s Day fast approaching, I wanted to take a moment and pay homage to all you wonderful Moms out there. My Mom is a 4′11″ full blooded Italian who never misses a beat. She worked full time at a large high school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania until she was 80 years old. When I was in high school, and I would go out with friends at night, she would sleep on my bed until I got home. That way, I had to wake her up so I could go to sleep. Better for a Mom to check on the condition of her teenage son, don’t you think? She kept me on the straight and narrow, or at least close to it, and without her support I don’t know that I ever could have convinced my Dad that I could actually make a living by talking on the radio. And I needed his support, since I was flat broke. As for the amazing mother of my children, well, when folks ask me how we raised 3 successful, well educated kids my standard response is, “Cindy did a GREAT job!” And I mean it.

Some of my earliest memories were the car rides I took with my Mom. Bouncing around on the front seat, holding on tight when she hit the brakes. Sort of like my schnauzers do when we go for a drive. Car seats, what car seats? They weren’t invented. Back when we were born, Moms held the new baby on their laps while Dad drove home from the hospital.

Ask any Mom who had kids in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and even the early 80’s, what they remember and you’ll laugh at the answers. When I was born it was standard practice for all Moms to be knocked out for the delivery. As for Dad, well, let’s just say that not only was he not in the delivery room but many times our Dads weren’t even in the building. Yep, they were at work.

Is your baby teething? Rub some whiskey on their gums like our Moms did. Most of us from the 50’s thru the 70’s weren’t breastfed, either. It was considered sort of primitive and, obviously, the big food conglomerates knew what formula babies really needed, right? They always have our best interests at heart. Yeah, right. And our kids want to know what’s wrong with us??!!

Moms nowadays use Twitter, Facebook, and their Smartphones to stay in touch with their kids and with each other. Now, pregnant women stay away from sushi, caffeine and hair dye. Back then a whiskey sour and a Kool were considered great ways for pregnant women to relax.

But despite the changing social norms and amazing advances in medical knowledge, one thing remains constant. No one affects your life more than your Mom. Her unconditional love and support can help you reach whatever goals you hold. Then again, she can also be the reason that you have a standing appointment with a therapist. Either way, there’s no one like Mom.