"I Know Him"

I almost drove Kay crazy the first year or so of our marriage. We'd be watching a sporting event and the name of some notable (usually from the past) would come up, prompting me to say, "I know him." Then the room was silent except for the gnashing of teeth coming from beside me.

Although I never made it to the majors (despite what the baseball card indicates), I have attended a number of baseball fantasy camps, where I actually got to know Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Enos Slaughter, Hank Bauer, Moose Skowron, Brooks Robinson, Maury Wills, and a host of other famous players. For a week, they knew my name. We ate together, swapped stories (they talked, we listened), and were on the ball field together. So, yes, I knew them.

I had the privilege of teaching some medical courses in Hawaii, most of them held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. This was about the time of the Super Teams competition, held between the two football teams that had met in the Super Bowl a month or so earlier. One year, the Pittsburgh Steelers were at our hotel, and they had a pick-up volleyball game on the beach near where I was hanging out. They needed one more body, so they asked me to play! There I was, setting up spikes for Franco Harris, of "The Immaculate Reception" fame. And when we finished, he said, "Thank you for playing with us, sir." (Made me feel a hundred years old, but at least I can say I've had a conversation with him).

There are others. I've talked with Jack Nicklaus while staying at the Doral Resort in Miami. I've had my picture taken with Tom Landry on the beach where we both were vacationing. There are a number of entertainers I've been privileged to treat professionally. In short, I've been extremely fortunate that God has blessed me with the opportunity to meet a lot of the famous and near-famous.

Is there a point to this? Yes, indeed. Celebrities may or may not take the job of role model seriously, although I think they should. I will say that every person whom I've named in the paragraphs above conducted themselves with dignity and grace in my dealing with them. Have you ever considered that you might be a role model to someone? Maybe they admire you because you've had a book published. Perhaps they look up to you because you're a success in your profession. They may even hold you in high regard because you're always smiling and even-tempered. I hope that, as you go about your day tomorrow, you'll keep in mind that there's probably someone watching you, someone who, when asked, will smile and say, "Yeah, I know him/her," and mean it as a compliment.