For those folks that actually know me, they realize that I’m a little sensitive about being recognized for how many times that I have or have not driven my car to Alleghany and back. There’s a long list of things that I am extremely proud of that Linda and I have managed to accomplish over the past four years. But going back and forth to the Highlands just isn’t one of them.

I will happily discuss how are dedicated parents jump in their automobiles and make that loop on a regular basis. One year with the Softball team we actually presented each set of Parents a participation trophy 🏆 for completing the James River – Alleghany double dip inside of 72 hours.

Now I will offer up a different fun fact that will have folks questioning my sanity.

This is my 16th season working with West Virginia Tech University Baseball ⚾️ and we qualified for the River States Conference Championship tournament up in Chillicothe, Ohio the week before last.

The fact that I passed on traveling up with the team on that Wednesday so that I could announce the Girls 👧 Soccer ⚽️ game isn’t the bigger part of the story.

That part took place on Friday morning after we won our 9:00 am contest versus Rio Grande. After the final pitch was thrown I jumped back into my car 🚗 and drove non-stop back to Carroll County, arriving just before it was time to begin the ceremonies.

Darrin Mathews was doing the honors 🎖 of tossing out the First Pitch and Coach Nester cleverly placed Principal Thompson behind home plate to catch the toss.

Then it was time to read the messages from Katherine Lindamood and Emma Leath. Both of these young Ladies did their families proud with their thoughts and I did my best to be their messenger.

We then played a game against Floyd County, our first game following our bump in the road at James River.

We won the game comfortably and when it was over I jumped back into my car 🚗 and returned to Chillicothe. Arrived back at 12:35 am. 13 hours and just under 600 miles in total.

Back at the ballpark just after 7am and then wrote the CCHS game story once we started our contest versus Shawnee State.

So, why would someone want to do that to themselves ? Caring ❤ is both a joy and a burden. I had a hunch that Emma Leath was going to take the time to pen 🖊 a letter about her four years and I wanted to be there to read it for her and Katherine as well.

As far as heading out 8 hours later on Wednesday, that is just because of Ben Tickle and the Battling Ben Tickles !

We live in a place where the pace is so much faster than one might could ever imagine and the search for some of the folks that make sure the train 🚆 stays on the tracks is on-going.

There is little doubt that I was fortunate enough to spend 45 minutes on Thursday morning 🌄 with a pair of those people, Stephen Puckett and Tammy Quesenberry.

The desire to use one’s writing ✍ skills for good is an effort into itself. The speed at which things happen around here in Carroll County is quick and when thats the case you need people on the job that are at it earlier than most and stay at it later than people can imagine.

Now that its Friday at 5:30 am, I am sure this pair is already hard at it. The ease that they move from one project to the next is quite possibly the most impressive thing about their interactions. The give and take is priceless and its much needed when you are living in the Fast Lane (Eagles reference).

The hardest thing to do in Life, in my opinion, is to find people that CARE about the betterment of a group or community instead of just what’s right in front of them. Life is nonstop and its a challenge to get to the end of the day more often than not so the system survives when we have some folks that try to make our lives easier as a whole.

My search for folks that Care is important enough that the word itself is in the name – OneofUs.Care and when I happen across people that display that trait day in and day out it makes me want to take the time to take a photo 📷 and say Thank You!!

If your path today or next week crosses with either one of these two please 🙏 offer them some encouragement. We need more people like Stephen Puckett and Tammy Quesenberry around because their existence makes life so much easier for the rest of us.