A Touching Moment

Sorry about the blog going down yesterday, but as I was trying to juggle a number of different concerns from different folks in and out of the football program I read the article I refer to below. It's a touching story about the parents of an autistic child. Then I realized life is too short to worry about my insignificant problems. Grab a hanky and read on:



This year's NFL Draft is Saturday

Like any parent of young children, I silently fight off "worst case scenario" types of fears all the time. It's not in any way debilitating or obessessive, but every once in a while I shudder when I think of one of my daughters getting injured or developing a disease.

That's what makes me admire the parents of children with disabilities and serious diseases even more. Not only are they challenged by the life and death issue threatening their most precious loved ones, they also have to deal with the "pity" factor from strangers and even other family members.

For someone who can't shut up like me, autism is a particularly frightening thing for me to think about. And this story about how sports helped open up one child with autism is very touching. It also caught my eye as it included a mention of former Columbia Head Coach Bob Shoop, who sat with the young fan during the 2004 draft.

And he did more than sit with him:

"Our struggle with autism continues, but Paul has employed his enthusiasm for the NFL draft and used that skill to converse with others. Following the 2004 draft, he e-mailed Shoop at Columbia and forwarded statistics about one of our high school players. The senior was then called for an interview. Go figure!"

I truly believe God has a special place for the people who really love and care for people with these kinds of challenges.