Me: "Is this your first time playing golf?"
Junior golfer: "Yes, and I love it!"
Me: "I'm very happy to hear that and see that huge smile on your face."
Junior golfer: "Can we do this again tomorrow?"
Me: "Golfday is every Wednesday at 2:00, but I bet we can work something out for you."
Junior golfer: "How can I play more golf?"
Me: "I'll make a deal with you. If you do good in your therapy and do everything your nurses and therapists tell you to do, I'll make sure you can play every afternoon if you want to."
Junior golfer: "Really?!?! That would be awesome!!"
After almost seven years of weekly golf clinics at Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital, conversations like this one are happening more and more frequently. As I am sure you can imagine, in every similar conversation our junior golfers have ear-to-ear smiles on their faces. Each time I have this conversation the wave of feelings are as powerful as the first time it occurred. Many people think the reason for this is because these weekly golf clinics are growing the game of golf. For those who think that they could not be any more incorrect.
The junior golf clinics at Ranken Jordan are far more than just golf clinics. In this setting, golf is used as a healing tool in a variety of ways. As illustrated in the conversation at the opening of this blog post, at times golf is used as a reward for working hard in therapy sessions. Other times golf is used as direct therapy for a myriad of reasons. Think about the physical benefits of swinging a golf club -- balance, core strengthening, flexibility, and the list can go on. For the kids at Ranken Jordan that list also includes improved grip strength, arm strength, posture improvements (both seated and standing), leg strength, physical stamina, just to name a few. Golf is also used as a social, emotional, and mental healing tool. The average length of stay at Ranken Jordan is approximately 42 days, and many children are there far longer. If nothing else, golf is a great diversion to allow them the opportunity to simply be kids. Teaching the kids how to play golf also shows them a leisure activity that they can do when they go home -- an activity that they likely never thought they would be able to do.
One of my favorite ways golf is used as a healing tool is when it involves the entire family. Countless conversations have been had with parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins, etc., about where they can go to learn the game so that they can play golf together. Often times their instruction will also begin in the hospital so that every one gets to begin to experience golf together. So many times this is the first opportunity that they have had to play a sport together (in most cases I have been able to make it to my car before my "allergies" get really bad). When the kids are able to go home, one thing that always brings a huge smile to my face is when I get a text message or e-mail from a parent or the child with an update. These are some of the times when I realize the important role this game that drives many of us insane can have in improving lives.
In addition to the updates that I receive via text, e-mail, or phone call, there are times when the messages from the parents and kids will be to say "thank you" for introducing golf into the lives of the children at Ranken Jordan. Those are some of the messages that I have the most difficult time formulating a response to. The way I see it, I should not be the one receiving the messages of appreciation that they send -- it should be the other way around. I am the one who is eternally grateful for the opportunity to put a golf club in the hands of each one of the children at Ranken Jordan who has been a part (and will be a part) of our golf program. There will never be the words for me to adequately describe how much it means to me to spend time with the kids and their families. And knowing that every Golfday (Wednesday to everybody else) my Mom is smiling down with pride at her little boy is pretty awesome, too.
