Day 68

Death is always a tragedy. When my father passed away I was crushed beyond words. As hard as it was, it was my father and that is what happens in life, your parents are supposed to be the ones who pass away before you do. Yesterday, tragedy struck Colts head coach Tony Dungy. His son James, 18 years old, was found dead in his Tampa apartment in what the Tampa police are calling an apparent suicide. I am not a parent, but I cannot even imagine how hard it is to lose a child. It is one thing to lose a child, its quite another to lose a child to an apparent suicide. That has to be something that sticks with you forever. You start to look in the mirror and constantly question yourself. Was this something that I could have prevented? Did my child's unhappiness have anything to do with me or my parenting? Its going to be a struggle for the rest of Tony and his wife's life.

Everything you read or hear about Tony Dungy is that he is one of the nicest and classiest guys you will ever want to meet. He is a family guy. He has been quoted as saying he doesn't want to be a coaching lifer because he wants to be able to do community work and help change people's lives for the better. This is such a sad story on all aspects. Up until my father died, I will be the first to admit, things this like were sad to me, but I would hear about them and brush them off. Now, I am so affected. To me, this is sadness of epic proportions for the Dungy family. I immediately put myself in their place and think about how my mother or father would be if either MD and I passed away. I said it before, nobody should ever have to lose a child. This is just another of the thousands of incidents that should put things into perspective for everyone. I know that is one thing that I have been a lot better at, not sweating the small stuff. Two years ago, something like my car needing $1000 in repairs would have set me off. But now, it is what it is. Its only money. In the grand scheme of late, that is so minute. What I am trying to say here is that take a step back from yourself from time to time and realize that all of the little things that get you so bent out of shape are nothing. Things could always be worse. You think Tony Dungy cares anymore that the Colts lost their perfect season this past Sunday?

Song of the Day: "The Choice is Yours" by Black Sheep