Long Lost Friend's Success Gives Me Hope...

...Hope for my own male offspring, that is.

I had planned to post something else today, but once my sister sent this my way, I had to go with it (see http://freep.com/article/20100302/SPORTS08/100301060/1356/SPORTS/CMU-coach-Dan-Enos-philosophy).

Kendra, my Texan sister, stumbled upon this article accidentally. On a whim, she decided to check the local news from our hometown in Michigan. We had no idea.

You see, I grew up with Dan Enos, the new head coach of Central Michigan University's football team. We went to school together from grade school on.* He was my kid sister's summer-time softball coach and was once nice enough to buy lemonade (that she stirred with her bare hands and licorice sticks) from her not-so-prosperous front yard stand.

I remember him (yes, I know he's not dead, but it's been a long time) as a good-looking, smart, kind, funny, and confident young man who walked with a natural strut I'd never seen before, a swagger that most likely contributed to his propensity for attracting (or causing) a teeny bit of trouble.

There was, of course, the grade school gym teacher who threw him against a locker and held him there by his neck...for what, I don't know. Not that there's ever a reason for a teacher to do that.

Then there was the experimentation with cigarette smoking in my parents' garage. Luckily, it didn't become a habit for anyone who took part in that stupidity...at least that I know of.

There was also our high school's senior year spring break in Daytona Beach. That was a trip to remember, or not, depending on how you look at (or recall) things. (As a result, my children, by the way, will NOT be partaking in any sort of senior trip.)

If my memory serves me right, that trip, which involved drinking and fighting, nearly cost Dan his full-ride football scholarship to Michigan State. He was physically and formally removed from the state of Florida.

Occasionally, I have wondered, whatever became of this guy? I have told old time stories of him to my family.

I am only too happy to know that he, once being the handful he was, found success. Dan has been coaching in some capacity for many years at many colleges, including our own Southern Illinois (1997-1998), according to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Enos). I wish him and his family all the best.

I say this for three reasons:

1. I do mean it.
2. My kids may one day need a good word put in for 'em.
3. Dan's made me realize my son's gonna be just fine.

As my good-hearted but sometimes rascally 13-year-old navigates his way through the teenage years, I'm going to need to reflect on the Dan Enos story over and over and over again.

I'll remember that no matter what completely asinine thing he tries--peeing on the school's bathroom wall, engaging in modern warfare with airsoft guns inside the house, igniting the fumes of his Axe body spray,  and wearing shorts and no coat when it's 30 degrees outside--there is hope.

And, the next time (there had better not be a next time for this one) he explodes an empty aerosol can in the backyard fire pit, risking shrapnel injuries for Pete's sake, and says, "But, mom, we made sure to move the chairs outta the way," I'm going to ground his butt through the next century.

Then I'm going to take a deep breath and know that one day, when he's set free into the world, he and the world are going to be OK.

Indeed, there is hope.

How about you? Has someone you know allayed any reservations or fears you've had? Do you worry about the future of your kids, or is it just me?

*To be sure I'm laying out all of my potential conflicts of interest, I do have to reveal that Dan was my best middle school guy friend turned "boyfriend" for the briefest of time--like maybe a week or two. (Please do not tell this to my children who, as current middle schoolers, are far too young to be engaged in such folly, no matter how innocent.)