Page 39 - Salesianum - Distinguished Gentleman - Summer 2020

words of Bob Seger, he was “still the same.”
Then again, that excellence can be easier to miss at first glance, such as with the custodian at the Philadelphia market my father would see working in the early morning hours. The man swept with such passion and grace that it was like “watching a ballet,” utterly memorable despite the humble chore. As with Secretariat, Pop told me, “Once you’ve seen greatness or heard it, you know you just got a glimpse of what God really thinks we’re capable of doing.” And truth be told, we’re capable of doing a lot.
Seven Daughters, Seven Spirits
Seven, the book itself, may have begun taking root during my father’s recovery, but the seed was planted on Christmas morning, while he was still in the hospital fighting for his life. During one of my shifts to sit with him, my seven committed, capable, force-of-nature sisters came to visit. Letting them take over, I was able to step back and just watch as they put each
of their God-given gifts to work in their own unique ways. Watching the seven of them work together was like seeing a Michelangelo painting come to life. I later found out the deep effect they all had on him at his weakest moment, when my father truly got his will to live back.
After that day, he thought of his daughters as “the Big Seven”: a set of exceptional gifts — hope, love, patience, peace, joy, faith and the grace of God — that ignited his comeback. While most of us probably don’t have seven daughters (for better or worse), we do all
have those same seven spirits at our disposal. It’s only a matter of how you use those gifts, always keeping in mind running legend Steve Prefontaine’s honest and accurate belief that, “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”
To that, I would only add that it’s never too
late to stop missing out. And here’s why. One
of my father’s more humorous quotes is that, “Some people would say that God was in His prime back when Moses wore short pants, but I disagree.” When I asked him who those “some people” were, he had a ready answer. “There are too many wars and too much discord in the world. But this is when God is really starting to hit His stride up there. He is hitting light and floating in the lane of hope.”
“The lane of hope” to him is the second lane on a race track, because runners will sometimes take the last turn into the homestretch so fast that their momentum brings them straight into the second lane. And, to him, that was a good place to be. It gave you a clear shot of the finish line, serving as one last reminder that you still had a chance. No matter how you start out your race, you still have a chance.
It’s never a bad time to ask yourself, “Where are you in your own race and what is your ‘Coach’ telling you at this point?” When it gets tough in the race, sometimes we need to tuck behind our teammates or help a friend or family member who needs a lift.
During my years at Salesianum, I had the great
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