This column is more about life than golf, though the headline may make you think otherwise.
A Christmas present from son Jim was the book, ‘Who’s Your Caddy?? by Rick Reilly. In real life he’s a back page columnist for Sports Illustrated.
Eleven people agreed to let him caddy for them. People like John Daly, Donald Trump, Jack Nicklaus, Bob Newhart, Casey Martin, Jill McGill and Bob Andrews.
Daly comes off a little uncouth, Trump an egomaniac, Nicklaus a roll model, Newhart an anti-Trump, Martin a hell on wheels (as in golf cart wheels), McGill a relier on caddies and Andrews as a blind golfer who made Reilly see.
As a blind golfer’s caddy you line up their shoulders, position to the ball, club face, describe the hole for whatever club you and the golfer thinks they need and make the golfer ‘see? what you see.
Andrews, 57, lost his sight when hit by two enemy hand grenades in Vietnam. His recovery, marriage and life is very touching.
When Reilly finished his caddying for Andrews he decided to blindfold himself, get a friend to caddy for him and play nine holes. His whiffs, shanks and chucks made it a three hour, 25 minute round with 121 strokes. He wrote that when he started the book he thought golf was all about beer, bets and long drives.
‘When I took off the eyeshades, I was floored by the color everywhere, the blue of the skies, the hundreds of shades of green, the aqua of the lakes, the Crayola set of flowers, the crisp, whipping flags on the sticks, even the caramel brown of the bunkers.
‘You forget what a rush it is to send a tiny little white ball hurtling great distances and to be able to watch it fall against sky, cloud and mountain. Being suddenly sighted again after three and a half hours, I vowed never to take the game for granted again, not as a player, not as a caddy and not as a writer.?
I don’t know if it’s an old golfer’s or aging columnist’s comment, but it’s always timely, ‘Stop and smell the roses along the way.?
Jottings Quickies:
The way things are changing, or the way we are allowing things to change, next Christmas I expect this to be a refrain: ‘What a laugh it would have been if mommy had only seen daddy kissing Santa Claus last night.?
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If you think you are too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room.
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Politicians and their spouses; two examples. Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm’s husband is cochairman of Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry’s Michigan political campaign. Jennifer waited until a short time before the Democratic caucus here before endorsing Kerry for president. Only people living on Mars thought she might do otherwise.
And, wouldn’t you like to be a mouse in the Kerry house when John says to his multi-multi millionaire, Heinz-catsup-fortune-heiress wife, ‘You’re just not paying enough taxes,? which he says of rich people.
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This is a true story, not that the others haven’t been. Her husband had recently retired. She had her stay-at-home routine, he had his go-to-work routine. Retirement changed his routine, but not hers. Almost daily, after his morning freshening up, he’d ask, ‘What are we going to do today??
After having enough of that, one day she responded, ‘I don’t know what you’re going to do, but I’m going to follow my vacuum around the house.?
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There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots, another is wings.