Among All Men Most Richly Blessed
Loren Hardin
The Ashland Beacon
This is part two of a series about Michael who enrolled in hospice services with terminal cancer when he was sixty-two years old. When Michael was a senior in high school, he was a premier pitcher and was being courted by the Cincinnati Reds and the Minnesota Twins, but Michael accepted a full scholarship at Ohio University instead. Michael pitched for three years at Ohio University, until a shoulder injury cut short his career. After graduation, Michael married, had two daughters, and worked as a chemist at a local chemical plant.
I’ll let Bill, Michael’s father, and unofficial biographer tell you “The rest of the Story”. Here’s Bill: "Mike had two little girls and he wanted to make softball pitchers out of them. He never played softball before, but he studied pitching like you would a college class. If there was a meeting somewhere on pitching, he went to it. He corresponded with big schools like Arizona and UCLA. He took videos of his daughter Mindy pitching and sent them to the coach of the University of South Carolina and the coach would send them back with suggestions. Mindy won sixty-seven games as a high school pitcher, which I think is a state record. And her sister Cindy caught her. They were the battery for Clay High School. Mindy received a full scholarship and pitched for the University of Missouri in Kansas City. She is now a program coordinator for a substance abuse treatment center. Cindy received a scholarship and is now a lab technician.
“And Mike started teaching other girls in the area to windmill pitch. He would take on six to eight girls at a time. He did it for ten to twelve years. A lot of time he would skip dinner and not get home until eight o’clock at night. I told him, ‘You should charge for it; other people do’, but Michael said, ‘No, I enjoy it. I enjoy watching the girls develop. That’s my reward.’” Bill added, “People still come up to me today and thank me for what Michael did for their daughters. But I sure would have liked to have seen how far Michael could have gone in the big leagues.”
Michael and I connected immediately, it felt like we were kindred spirits. In retrospect, I reckon we were. Afterall, we had the same Heavenly Father, the same Lord and Savior and shared the same faith and hope. We talked about Michael’s love for God and his family. When we talked about his love for baseball it was evident that he shared his father’s sentiment. Michael would like to have seen how far he could have gone in the big leagues. Then I suggested to Michael, “You know, if you would have played in the major leagues you might have entertained thousands of people, but you may not have changed one life for the better. Look at all those young girls you coached and taught to pitch. Look at the difference you made in their lives. Michael hesitated momentarily and then responded, "That really makes sense.”
I suggested to Michael, “Your life reminds me of ‘The Unknown Confederate Soldiers Prayer’”. Seeing that Michael traveled extensively over several years to participate in Civil War reenactments, it was no surprise when Michael exclaimed, “I have that poem. It’s one of my favorites." Perhaps it will become one of your favorites too.
Unknown Confederate Soldier’s Prayer:
“I asked for strength that I might achieve.
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health that I might do greater things;
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy;
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life;
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for
but everything that I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself my unspoken prayers were answered,
I am, among all men, most richly blessed.”
Loren Hardin was a social worker with SOMC-Hospice for twenty-nine years. He can be reached at 740.357.6091 or at lorenhardin53@gmail.com. You can order Loren's book, "Straight Paths: Insights for living from those who have finished the course", at Amazon.
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