Newspaper Page Text
4A
♦ WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2006
Hnustun ©atly .IJmmutl
OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
Halloween made safer
Halloween wasn’t nearly as scary as it
used to be.
Oh, there were still a bunch of
little goblins and witches and so forth run
ning around out there Tuesday having a
frighteningly good time.
And it sure scared us Christians. Its ori
gins are thought to be derived from devil
worship, blood sacrifices, that sort of thing.
So, even though there are tons of websites
that dispute that as urban legend (try this
search: “origins of Halloween” and you’ll
be surprised at what you’ll read - and some
text from some really credible sources; such
as the History
Channel) we
were still plen
ty scared (OK,
make that
“concerned”).
Anyway,
that isn’t the
point.
The point
is Halloween
regardless of
what you believe - within the past handful
of years - had grown to be a very, very scary
time.
For starters, there was/is the fear of abduc
tion while trick or treating door to door.
There was/is the major concern of tainted
candy. And even this: Several news sources
are reporting that that Halloween ranks up
there with New Year's in terms of drinking
and driving.
Knowing our children would be out walk
ing the same streets with drunk drivers:
Now that’s scary!
The good news is Halloween wasn’t as
scary as it used to be.
And it’s been getting less and less scary
each year for approximately the past five
or so. That’s because in general across the
nation and specifically here locally we’ve
got churches such as Westside Baptist,
Southside Baptist, Shirley Hills Baptist and
Sacred Heart and schools like Westfield,
mall’s like the Galleria and city’s like Byron
- and the list goes on.
They have derived a little thing called the
Fall Festival - and other formats such as
Byron’s Nightmare on Main Street 2006
- which in turn has given our children a
much, much safer environment to celebrate
the holiday.
In fact it/they have become such a hit, they
are now so much a part of the observance,
that maybe it’s time we did away with the
term “Halloween” all together and come up
with a name more suitable to a day (thank
goodness) not nearly as scary as it used to
be.
Letter to the Edttop
Bush has a clear plan
President Bush has a clear plan for victory in Iraq that
begins with training Iraqi forces so they can defend their
country and fight the terrorists. We are making tremen
dous progress towards this objective.
Earlier this year, Iraqi forces led the fight in clear
ing out terrorists during the crucial battle of Tal Afar,
with U.S. troops in a supporting role, and every day,
Iraqis are taking more control of the situation on the
ground. Withdrawing from Iraq, as some Democrats in
Washington propose, would send a dangerous signal to
our enemies that we cut and run when the going gets
tough. Bush is offering a clear strategy to win, not a
political quick fix ...
Fix Social Security now once and for all: Social Security
is sound for today’s seniors and for those nearing retire
ment, but it needs to be fixed for younger workers - our
children and grandchildren.
The government has made promises it cannot afford
to pay for with the current pay-as-you-go system. If we
do not act to fix Social Security now, the only solutions
will be'dramatically higher taxes, massive new borrowing
or sudden and severe cuts in Social Security benefits or
other government programs ...
Protect the Homeland: Bush is committed to keeping
the nation strong and secure through strengthening our
military, deploying a missile defense, strengthening the
-NATO alliance and supporting military families and vet
- erans. The President is committed to promoting an inde
pendent and democratic Iraq to ensure further stability
in the Middle East and the world on the whole ...
Build a better tomorrow for our children and grand
See LETTER, page $A
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
The point is Halloween
regardless ol what you
believed - within the
past handlul of years -
had grown to be a very,
very scary time.
Marriages, bodies have a lot in common
You might need to think different
ly about your marriage, rather
than thinking of it as a compo
nent of a conversational bio.
“Well, I’m 47, I live in Suwanee, I’m
married and I have five children.”
We often think of marriage as just
something I’m a part of or something
that I’m in.
I think we often take for granted the
nature of our marital unions; that they
are very similar to living organisms;
that they need to be cared for like
we would care for a child. Marriages
exhibit many similarities to living
beings: they grow and atrophy, they
become sick and get well again, they
sustain injury and neglect and they
can be nurtured and protected in a way
that brings out their best - and that
brings great joy.
My colleague John Jauregui often
says that when we get married there
are now three “beings” that need
attention and care - wife, husband and
the marriage.
Carrying this metaphor further, what
can we say, then, are some important
ways to care for this living, breathing
organism we call our marriage?
Feed it. Our marriage needs the
basics of life support, including com
munication, listening, understand
ing and compassion. Just as food and
water provide the most basic elements
of survival for our bodies, these essen
tials can help keep a marriage growing
and prevent it from atrophying. Each
day we need to make deliberate choices
to stay healthy, whether in dietary
choices for our bodies or recognizing
what our spouse needs and proactively
attempting to meet those needs.
Give it supplements. Athletes, doc
tors and the health-conscious tout the
benefit of multi-vitamins and a host of
other supplements intended to boost
the immune system and enhance over
all physical fitness. In your marriage,
this might be a book that you read with
your spouse, even once a year. Early
in my marriage, my wife and I used to
make a point of reading at least one
S' j ‘ 2 ’° oto
"...Must be d short somewhere..."
O'Neil has earned a place in Hall of Fame
I rarely take my son on an inter
view.
Unless it might be life-changing.
So he wasn’t there when I shook
hands and chatted with the president
of the United States. He was home
when, after filing my column, I strolled
across Notre Dame’s famous campus
in the beauty of the Indiana gloaming.
He has been at school when I’ve asked
questions of Tom Osborne, Chuck
Hagel, Ben Nelson and Bob Kerrey. I
can’t remember where he was when I
talked with Warren Buffett.
I did make one exception, however, in
2001 when Max was 8, a third-grader
in good standing at Gates Elementary
School where I picked him up and took
him with me to Hastings.
I wanted him tg see Buck O’Neil.
It was a productive choice because
while presidents, billionaires and
assorted big hitters from Nebraska cut
wide swaths and hover near the top of
the household name charts, chances
are good my son will never forget
O’Neil.
At least I hope not.
Fifteen years after Jackie Robinson
broke the color barrier in Major
League Baseball, O’Neil, a veteran of
the Negro Leagues, became the sport’s
first black coach. He died a week ago at
the age of 94.
O’Neil’s baseball prowess was clear:
two batting crowns; five pennants and
two Black World Series championships
as manager of the Monarchs; the guid
ing of such stars as Satchel Paige.
Buck O’Neil’s problem wasn’t ability
or attitude, it was timing ... and skin
color,, or, more to the point, baseball
and society’s problem with his skin
color.
He was in Hastings as part of a
Hastings College symposium. We gath-
OPINION
marriage book a year. It wasn’t that
we felt our marriage was sick or in
danger, we just wanted to be as strong
and healthy as a couple as we could
be. Reading out loud together works
well for some, others prefer reading a
chapter separately then discussing it
on a date night.
Get a check up. As we age, our doc
tors tend to want to see us every year
for a physical.
He or she knows that some illnesses
don’t manifest themselves until they
are well advanced. That’s why it’s best
to catch them early. In our marriages,
this may equate to an evaluation that
you get through a marriage seminar;
one that’s thorough enough to point
out any potential weaknesses or prob
lem areas. Just attending a marriage
enhancing weekend retreat can give
couples the dedicated time they need to
evaluate the health of their marriage.
Use a crutch when necessary. Now I
know that “crutch” is often a negative
term. That’s not how I mean it here.
When one sprains an ankle, crutches
may be annoying, but they also are
necessary.
They provide the support needed for
the body to heal properly. The con
nection to foarriage is that you and
your spouse may need outside help (a
crutch) for the marriage to heal prop
erly.
Just like the crutch ultimately keeps
you from injuring yourself further and
causing permanent damage, so can
a counselor keep you from ignoring
a “marriage injury” that ultimately
could become crippling to the mar
riage.
When marriages suffer, it’s usually
ered for a news conference in Studio B
at the Gray Center. He bounded into
the room, exuding joy. He immediately
locked his playful eyes on Max sitting
next to me in the front row. A moment
later my son’s small hand was lost in
O’Neil’s huge right one.
Before the day was over, the two had
played catch (“And he knew Jackie
Robinson, Dad!”), talked a little base
ball and made Buck O’Neil, then 89, a
part of my son’s life.
O’Neil told us about baseball, race
and history with his trademark grace,
humor and passion. Max listened when
O’Neil said his grandfather was a slave.
We all listened.
He told us that he became the first
black coach 75 years after baseball
began. “I knew guys that were quali
fied 75 years ago.”
But he was careful to remind us that
day of the futility of hate. “It makes
you bitter. It makes you ugly. It makes
you die young.”
Aside from ardent baseball fans,
O’Neil was hardly known until his
running narrative provided the perfect
backdrop to Ken Burns’ documentary,
“Baseball,” which originally aired on
PBS in 1994.
O'Neil was an ambassador for the
game, too, serving as chairman of the
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in
Kansas City. He was instrumental in
Ramdy
Hicks
Columnist
Georgia Family Council
George
Ayoub
Columnist
Morris News Service
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
from neglect, not from conflict, crisis
or ill will. We do our “things” with
in the margins of marriage, though
not always done side-by-side with our
spouse: we work, raise our kids, do
yard work, go shopping, pay bills, go
to church, take vacations, attend kids'
sporting events, sit in car pool lines,
watch TV Our home lives become cen
tered on our common activities but we
lose our focus on keeping the marriage
healthy. The very thing that brought
us together - our desire for close
ness and emotional intimacy with our
spouse - is often neglected.
Even when we do long-range plan
ning for our families - a very good
practice usually - we can get caught
up in accumulation and financial secu
rity, at the risk of ignoring our mari
tal health. We may organize our lives
around achieving certain objectives:
a new car, bigger house, retirement
account or other legitimate financial
goals. But sometimes we don’t include
our marriage goals in our short- or
long-range planning.
As a result, this living organism we
created, our marriage, weakens.
So talk with your spouse about where
you want to be in your relationship in
five, 10 or 20 years. Will you settle for
peaceful co-existence, or do you desire
a deep, meaningful relationship? If it’s
the latter, it will require the same kind
of attention and commitment required
to keep your body healthy. Take care of
your marriage, feed it, give it supple
ments, get a check up, and, if neces
sary, use a crutch to help the relation
ship heal.
Let’s face it. If we don’t take care of
our bodies, they will get sick or break
down eventually. And so will our mar
riages if we fail nurture them in the
way they deserve.
Georgia Family Council is a non-prof
it organization that works to strength
en and defend the family in Georgia
by impacting communities, shaping
laws and influencing culture. For more
information, go to www.georgiafamily.
org, (770) 242-0001 or greggic farn.org
the museum being there.
He was more than baseball, though.
He wrote checks and helped raise
money for the Coda Jazz Benefit fund
to help defray funeral and burial costs
for needy jazz musicians from O’Neil’s
beloved Kansas City.
It was the game, however, that most
inspired O’Neil: “It is better than
music, although I do believe jazz comes
in a close second. It does fill you up. ”
His love for the game worked both
ways. Baseball allowed us to know him,
to appreciate where he had been, to
realize all that he had seen and heard,
to listen to him cheer for everything
that was good about life. That was his
message on the one day I luckily chose
to bring my son to work.
Thirty-five names grace the “Negro
Leaguers” lineup at the Baseball Hall
of Fame, which confers the ultimate
status for a player, manager or anyone
whose contributions to the game deem
a place in the sport’s highest echelon.
O’Neil, batting champion, manager of
champions and champion of the game,
was not selected last February when 17
names were added to the list. If he was
bitter or angry, no one saw it. Instead,
he was in Cooperstown on induction
day, delivering an inspired speech on
his life in the Negro Leagues.
O’Neil belongs in the Hall of Fame.
Not because he befriended my son.
Not because he was one of the sport’s
true gentlemen. Not because he was an
ambassador for baseball. Not because
he died.
Put him in because he earned it. He
deserves it.
Put him in because baseball still
needs Buck O’Neil.
George Ayoub is senior writer at The
Independent. His e-mail is george.
ayoub@morris.com.