"Best Day of My Life"

This year has certainly been one that none of us will forget anytime soon! Even with all of the craziness that has been 2020 (that includes all 582 days we have had so far this year), there has been one constant. With my apologies to people like me who are baseball fans and immediately hear James Earl Jones saying "The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball," the one constant I am talking about in this situation is Golf Day with the kids at Ranken Jordan.

While there was about an eight week break in the early summer when I could not go to the hospital to be with the kids, golf continued on each and every week. The staff at Ranken Jordan is so awesome that there were even a couple of weeks when I showed up virtually to help the kids! Golf has become such an important part of weekly activities at Ranken Jordan that everyone, especially the kids, wanted to keep playing. The weeks that I had to miss were pure torture because spending time with the kids has become just as important to me. Fortunately, since the middle of summer I have been able to go back every week to play golf with the kids, while following all necessary safety protocols. As it has been since the first day of the junior golf program there, each and every day has been special.

 

Recently we had a new junior golfer join us and she provided a moment that left me in awe, speechless, and nearly in tears. Those of you who know me best realize how tough it is to have me speechless! As usual when we are inside in Warner's Corner with the kids, we had target nets set up. On this particular day there were some tables and also a couch on our "driving range" so we got a bit creative with where we put the target nets. One of those nets was put on the couch and as our new junior golfer started hitting she confidently declared that she was going to hit one in the bullseye of that target! She immediately got to work in an attempt to accomplish that goal and hit several pretty close to the net, but none in it. Following a club change from her caddie (rec. therapist) and a minor tweak to her setup (her wheelchair was not aligned correctly to allow her to set the clubface square to the golf ball and target line), she started hitting shots all around the net, but still none in it. Only a couple of moments after moving off to help one of the other kids, I heard a yell that anyone getting a hole-in-one would be proud of, and it was followed by this exclamation -- "I did it! This is the best day of my life!!" Yes, she had indeed hit one right in the bullseye just as she said she would!

These are the exact moments that I had missed so much during the few weeks I was unable to go to Ranken Jordan. Experiences like that are exactly why spending time every week with the kids is so meaningful and impactful to me. Showing them they can do something they might not have thought they could, hearing them clearly state a goal with this new game, and then accomplish that goal, is such an incredible feeling that I cannot adequately describe it. For almost 10 years I have been amazed every week by what I see the kids do at Ranken Jordan, and the story I just told is no different. I could never say thank you enough for being allowed to go there each week to spend time with the kids, and what the kids may not realize is that I look forward to Golf Day just as much as they do. Now, is it Wednesday yet?

And Now For 9 More!

"Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don't, then you are wasting your time on Earth." --Roberto Clemente

Nine years ago today, on May 10, 2011, an opportunity that I believe would have made Mr. Clemente proud, became a reality for me. There are very few instances that I can think of when I can point to an exact day or time and say that day was life-changing for me. Each year on May 10, I write a blog post talking about just such a life-changing event. It was on that day in 2011 that we had our very first weekly junior golf clinic at Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital.

During the past nine years, I have had the honor and privilege to spend time each and every week, 52 weeks a year (with the exception of the past several weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic), teaching medically complex children how to play golf. While I only go to Ranken Jordan one or two days a week, there is not a day that goes by when I don't think of something I have seen a child do and it makes me smile (and sometimes brings tears to my eyes). Having the opportunity to use golf as a healing tool for these incredible kids is something I am grateful for every day!

There is no way these last nine years would have been possible without a lot of help and support from many, many people. Saying thank you to each and every one of you seems insufficient, but your help and support, in whatever way it has occurred, is profoundly appreciated. I am so very fortunate to have so many great, kind, and considerate friends who are willing to help at a moment's notice! Each of you has played a part in helping over 5,000 medically complex children smile, heal, and be provided an opportunity to do something many of them never thought they could. I look forward to helping even more children in the future and sharing stories of what you have allowed to happen!

For those of you who have not been to Ranken Jordan, you need to come visit! While there you will be amazed by the entire facility, but especially by the incredible people who make up the Ranken Jordan staff. One person in particular, Janine Roe, has been the driving force behind our junior golf program. You will not meet a person who is more dedicated, caring, and compassionate than Janine. Without her the junior golf program would not be possible. Ranken Jordan is lucky to have Janine on their team and I am lucky to count her as a friend!

Trying to adequately describe the past nine years at Ranken Jordan is impossible. Watching children stand up to hit golf balls (and walk) who have been diagnosed as quadriplegics, seeing children hit golf balls from their hospital bed, or seeing a child's face light up with a smile and hearing them yell, "I did it" after a great shot, leaves me speechless every time. I am so incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to spend time with the kids each week, and I look forward to the next nine years of Golfday with the kids! Since I started this post with a quote from a baseball legend, I will end it with another one, but before I do, I want to say "thank you" one more time to each and every one of you who has made this possible!


"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." --Jackie Robinson

Inspiration

A few days ago I logged into my Blogger account because I was curious how long it had been since my last post. I knew it had been quite some time but I had no clue it had been several months! There have been so many times over the past few months that something has happened at Ranken Jordan and I thought to myself, "I should do a blog post about that!" Today is the day that the procrastination stops (temporarily) and I finish a post about something I find quite amazing and inspirational.

Over the past few months one of our regular junior golfers has been a young man named Jeremiah. His determination and positive attitude are traits that always bring a smile to my face. Jeremiah first picked up a golf club at Ranken Jordan and has come to look forward to his standing 2:00 p.m. tee time every Wednesday afternoon. It has been extremely rewarding watching how his golf swing has improved and how much he enjoys playing the game! Jeremiah learned to play the game from his wheelchair, the game came to him quickly, and he was soon hitting his driver much straighter than I can hit mine!

Recently Jeremiah has been coming to golf in his wheelchair or on a gurney. Now, some of y'all might think that laying down in a bed of some type would make hitting golf balls much more difficult. You would probably also think, and rightly so, that teeing golf balls up would be even more difficult for Jeremiah. However neither one of these things proved to be much of a challenge to Jeremiah! Take a look at this video below to see the results of a quick lesson on how to tee the golf ball up on his own and make some very good swings!

How cool is that?! Thanks to the generosity of our local CBS affiliate, KMOV, the kids at Ranken Jordan now have a full swing golf simulator that has been put to a lot of use during the winter (watch the story HERE)! Having the simulator has allowed the kids to play some awesome golf courses including the Plantation Course at Kapalua, both courses at Torrey Pines, Bethpage Black, and Golf Club of Scottsdale, just to name a few. Jeremiah and all of the kids have loved being able to play golf courses at the same time they are watching the PGA Tour play the same courses!

I am not sure about you, but after seeing videos like these (and watching first-hand), I know that I do not get as upset or disappointed when I do not hit a golf shot quite as well as I would like to. Yes, I want to hit every shot perfect, and yes, I want to shoot the lowest score possible every time I play, but neither of those things are all that important. Saying that does not mean I do not want to play as well as possible every time I tee it up, but there are so many more important things that what my golf score is at the end of the day. Way to go, Jeremiah! I enjoy seeing how hard you are working and watching your game improve every week!