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| Angel in my Mom's yard. |
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| Waterfall in Mom's yard. |
Two weeks before high school starts the football team starts practice. My first year of high school I decided to go out for football. It was the first time I ever put on pads and got hit. HIT!! I thought it wasn’t supposed to hurt with those pieces of plastic on my shoulders and my thighs and head. Did you know there wasn’t any padding to protect your stomach, or arms or shins? One of my least favorite memories was running through this obstacle that is shorter than me, so I have to run with the plastic padding in front of me in a crouching position, and having someone run at me lower than I was and getting hit in the stomach. I got HIT!! It HURT!! I figured I had more to learn. Even though it hurt, I just thought I had to learn to do it better. It was only the third or fourth day and I knew I could do this. My first year of high school I wanted to do the things I was “supposed” to do, and that included football.
I didn’t know which was worse, the “getting hit” part or the running part. Those plastic pads were heavy. The problem wasn’t just running around the track, it was running UP the hill next to the track. My legs hurt from running. My stomach hurt from getting hit. I was surviving and getting stronger. It felt good to hurt so much and I felt like I was growing up so much.
The second week we had to decide what position we wanted to try out for. I had no idea so I decided I wanted to be defensive line, because they didn’t have to run so much!! I didn’t think about the fact that I was 5’8” and 90 pounds. I never thought about the weights some people lifted weighed twice as much as I did. We practiced plays and learned how people moved in each position. At the end of the week we had the linemen practice tackling the running backs. The best running back was Wayne Ferguson. He was new to the area and no one really knew him but in the two weeks of practice everyone found out what he could do. I found out the end of the week about Wayne Ferguson. When he had the ball in front of me, running towards me I tried to tackle him. I guess I didn’t get low enough and as I tried to tackle him he picked me up on his shoulders and ran with me hanging on. It was so humiliating. I had no idea what was going on, all I knew was he wasn’t going to fall down with me on his shoulders. Wayne Ferguson was gracious. He gently put me down and instead of laughing at me, like the whole rest of the team; he tried to help me with my tackling technique. What it really helped me do was making a decision, when I went back to the locker room and turned in my plastic pads, that didn’t cover my stomach and started high school the next Monday.
I ended up on the swim team in high school, no pain from getting hit!!
That year the football team was undefeated. I felt good because I knew them all, and felt like I was part of the team while sitting with the band. Throughout high school I kept up with what was going on with Wayne Ferguson. I don’t know if I ever really talked to him after that time he carried me around the practice field, but I never forgot his kindness and always thought of him as a friend. Through high school the football team, led by Wayne Ferguson, was the best team in the league. It was fun to go, and I always remembered that moment in time when I was carried on his shoulders. More important was the short conversation we had and the helpful comments he made. Wayne was “the man” on campus, at least during football season. Even though I never talked to him, I kept in touch with what was going on with him. My last year in high school Wayne Ferguson wasn’t on the football team and I later found out that he had transferred to another school. The other school somehow gave him more opportunities to be seen by college football scouts. I had heard that his father sent him there so he could get into a big school. I thought he would probably be a top college football player and end up in the pros. I didn’t know how stuff like that happened, but I thought he was so good that there was no doubt In my mind that Wayne was that good. I also thought that if anyone deserved good things, it was Wayne, he was “the best” as far as I was concerned. Without Wayne our team was terrible. Up to that year the football team was great, and after he left it was less than average. I couldn’t imagine what I would have done if my father had done that, I would know it was for my future, but what about my last year in high school. When I was in college I had heard that Wayne went to a college in Nevada. I figured in Las Vegas, then found out it was in Reno, I didn’t know they even had a team. Then I found out he wasn’t first string, and wasn’t considered a top player.
A few years later I had heard Wayne had become an elementary school teacher, as I had. I couldn’t imagine that this guy that had carried me on his shoulders ended up being an elementary teacher, the same as me. I heard about him every few years because he had made an impact on my life, but showing me that even though he was the top athlete of the school, he took the time to help me. I often thought of that time when I had to make decisions in my life, and remembered to be humble.
I always wanted to tell Wayne Ferguson what an impact that brief moment in our lives made on me. I’m sure he doesn’t even remember that time, or that he even remembers me. We never hung out with the same people, We never had classes together, I was never anyone important on campus, but, he made an impact on me.
I wonder how many times a little second in our lives affect others so dramatically. How many times do we carry someone on our shoulders without even knowing it, and a small gesture in our lives, can be so dramatic in another person’s life.
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| 2005 New Years Eve in bar in Monterey with Mike! |
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