On Friday, February 3, four men will be inducted into the Saint Ignatius Athletic Hall-of-Fame...Mark Kosiek ('73), Ed Hogan ('66), John Supplitt ('75) and Gerry Brockhouse, the athletic director in the early to mid-’90‘s. The induction will formally occur prior to the boys' basketball game that night.
Mark has been working on organizing a gathering of alumni from the '60's and '70's for the following Friday night. I have been in contact with him regarding that, so I emailed him a congratulations on his nomination. He thanked me and added that two of the men who were most influential in his life at Ignatius were his varsity coach, Bob Gabric, and Fr. Mark Link, S.J. Good choices! Those two men are two of my choices also.
Mark’s statement caused me to consider how we are influenced by other people and events in our life. Since I am something of a astronomy buff, it struck me that our lives aren't all that dissimilar from the lives of heavenly bodies...at least relating to the paths that they take and how they are affected by other bodies.
When I was a young man, in my 20's, men like Frank Raispis, Pat O'Mara and Fr. Link were my idols. For the record, there were many others. Metaphorically, these men created the gravitational pull that guided my path much as the Sun "pulls"* the Earth. (*"pulls" is not the correct word, but is useful for our purpose here.) I can’t think of any one event in which they caused me to change course; it was their constant and total presence. That’s one kind of influence. To wit, my plan was to be like Frank, living my life as a bachelor, dedicated to the education of the young men at Ignatius.
Another type of influence is the sudden or short-term influence that causes a change in trajectory, much as occurs when a large asteroid hits a planet. Such an event for Ignatius was the Bob Hope concert, "Hope For Saint Ignatius", in 1976. That not only affected the financial status of the school, but changed how the school was perceived by the community. Suddenly, we were a viable entity again. At least that's my take on it.
These occurrences can be positive or negative. I’ve probably learned more about living by things that I shouldn’t have done...or things that others shouldn’t have done...than by trying to copy someone else’s good actions. There are too many “negative” instances for one small essay.
Back in the summer of 1971, I was talking with a group of friends about a camping trip that I was planning with some of my sophomore basketball players; it’s more enjoyable with company. Among the friends was a lady with 3 young children who had been widowed a couple of years earlier. She off-handedly asked if I needed a “den-mother”...half in jest, all in earnest. She thought that this might be a safe way for her and her children to break the monotony of just sitting at home all summer. Being the good soul that I am, I said, “Sure.”
That’s how my life changed immediately and dramatically ... like a meteor hitting me on my path. It completely altered my "trajectory". (For the sake of full disclosure, the boys who were on the trip will verify that the entire trip was extremely innocent) But the path had changed! Good-bye, Raispis-life model!
Not only did my life’s plan take an immediate hit, but the gravitational pull of being a husband, father and grandfather has changed the way I view things, and do things...all to the better, I hasten to add. Not only did I inherit 3 great kids, followed by one of my own a year later, but as a result, I have the eight best, most beautiful and intelligent grandchildren in the world I wouldn’t lie about a thing like that!
