Staring 30 in the face
My column from Monday's Star
I’ve always tried to be honest in these columns, so today I’m coming clean. I’m turning 30 next month and I’m not real happy about it.
Alan had his column about turning 50 a few weeks ago, so it’s only right that I use this space for a little self-help therapy of my own.
I was sitting in the drive-thru at McDonald’s the other day, getting my usual high-fat, high-taste breakfast — a bacon, egg and cheese bagel and a hashbrown — when I heard about Maggie Dixon’s death on the radio.
Dixon, the 28-year-old sister of Pittsburgh head basketball coach Jamie Dixon, had just coached the Army women into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history in her first season as a head coach on any level.
Apparently, she died from an irregular heartbeat just a month after being carried off the court by her players after winning the Patriot League Tournament Championship. West Point cadets and staff mourned her passing last week, with a mixture of laughter and tears, remembering the brief, but special time she was a part of their lives.
It got me thinking. Instead of spending my time looking at my hairline and wringing my hands about exiting my 20s, maybe I should be seizing these days instead.
I’ll never be an anchor at ESPN, I’ll probably never land a job covering the Orioles and I’m not exactly on the road to fame and fortune, but I’m still rich in many ways.
I’ve got a job, a place to live and a family that loves me. I’ve got friends, a car to drive and more food than I need to be eating. And I’ve got something else that I’m going to stop taking for granted.
I’ve got today, and I should use it like Maggie Dixon would. After all, this is a woman that drove halfway across the country to cold-call about a coaching job at DePaul.
She spent five years there before walking on campus at West Point this year just 11 days before the season started.She molded a team that was 74-70 in the five years before her arrival into a championship squad.
And she did it at Army.
So, assuming I make it until May, I’ll still turn 30 kicking and screaming. I still won’t like it, but I can at least be grateful for the chance to make it there.
Just to see what I can do with the extra days.
I’ve always tried to be honest in these columns, so today I’m coming clean. I’m turning 30 next month and I’m not real happy about it.
Alan had his column about turning 50 a few weeks ago, so it’s only right that I use this space for a little self-help therapy of my own.
I was sitting in the drive-thru at McDonald’s the other day, getting my usual high-fat, high-taste breakfast — a bacon, egg and cheese bagel and a hashbrown — when I heard about Maggie Dixon’s death on the radio.
Dixon, the 28-year-old sister of Pittsburgh head basketball coach Jamie Dixon, had just coached the Army women into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history in her first season as a head coach on any level.
Apparently, she died from an irregular heartbeat just a month after being carried off the court by her players after winning the Patriot League Tournament Championship. West Point cadets and staff mourned her passing last week, with a mixture of laughter and tears, remembering the brief, but special time she was a part of their lives.
It got me thinking. Instead of spending my time looking at my hairline and wringing my hands about exiting my 20s, maybe I should be seizing these days instead.
I’ll never be an anchor at ESPN, I’ll probably never land a job covering the Orioles and I’m not exactly on the road to fame and fortune, but I’m still rich in many ways.
I’ve got a job, a place to live and a family that loves me. I’ve got friends, a car to drive and more food than I need to be eating. And I’ve got something else that I’m going to stop taking for granted.
I’ve got today, and I should use it like Maggie Dixon would. After all, this is a woman that drove halfway across the country to cold-call about a coaching job at DePaul.
She spent five years there before walking on campus at West Point this year just 11 days before the season started.She molded a team that was 74-70 in the five years before her arrival into a championship squad.
And she did it at Army.
So, assuming I make it until May, I’ll still turn 30 kicking and screaming. I still won’t like it, but I can at least be grateful for the chance to make it there.
Just to see what I can do with the extra days.
posted by Randy Capps at 10:24 PM
1 Comments:
Elder...
You make me sick. We'll be down there in a couple of weeks, so we can dread it together...
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