Wednesday; June 24

When I was a youngster in the 1960s and 1970s, there were a few things you could count on.  First of all, Walter Cronkite was going to be reporting the news every weeknight on CBS and second, there was going to be one major league baseball game on NBC every Saturday afternoon. It was not like it is today when you can pick and choose what games you want to watch, you just watched whatever was on because – well, because that was what was on.  I spent many a Saturday afternoon with Curt Gowdy, Tony Kubeck and my personal favorite Joe Garagiola.  I liked Garagiola because he was almost as funny as he was knowledgeable.  I leaned such gems as, “There is no defense against a base on balls.” and “The wind always seems to blow against catchers when they are running.”  Yet, maybe my favorite baseball quote from him was, “Not only was I not the best catcher in the Major Leagues, I wasn’t even the best catcher on my street!” – this really makes sense when you realize that Joe grew up in the same neighborhood as Yogi Berra. 
          I really enjoyed Joe’s weekly commentary, but the other day I came across a quote that made me smile.  In describing someone he said, “He is one of those Christmas Eve guys.  There are people like that ... every day in their lives is Christmas Eve.”.  Do you know someone who is like that – they are full of excitement about what the future holds?  They can’t wait to see tomorrow because it may hold something exciting!  They are constantly looking forward to what lay ahead because it could be something wonderful!  Too often, it is tempting to be “other guy”, the one who is certain that tomorrow will hold pain and sorrow; but what would happen if we became Christmas Eve guys?  How much would our personality change if we were excited about the future?  How much better would our families, offices, neighborhoods be if we believed that each day was a great gift from God just waiting to be unwrapped and enjoyed!
Let’s be Christmas Eve people.  Not just in December, by every day of the year.
          Think About It!

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