High School Friends

"Vitality shows not only in the ability to persist, but in the ability to start over."– F. Scott Fitzgerald

I recently received a disturbing e-mail from Larry Hudas. Larry informed me that Mitch Newman suffered a major heart attack and is currently in a self induced coma at Crittenden hospital in Michigan. Mitch was a co-captain on Denby’s high school football team in 1957 and then went on to play for Michigan State University.

The last time I saw Mitch was during our 50^th high school reunion. Bill Stroud, one of the organizers of the reunion, informed me that Mitch was unlikely to attend the reunion. That disturbed me since I wanted to see Mitch again. I called him and told him I was looking forward to seeing him again. Mitch did attend that reunion in Sterling Heights and I was happy to see him.

A number of memories stand out for me regarding Mitch. Back in 1957, before school and the football season began, both current and past players met in the evening unofficially to play pickup games. During one of those games, we received a kickoff and I was blocking during the return. Running towards me was Mitch to make the play. Essentially, I blocked him so well that he landed on his behind. He gets up and says to me “Good block Frank”. Not only was I pleased because I performed a good block but I was complimented by my teammate who I respected.

 Another memory was the first game of that season which was against Southeastern High School. Our team is huddled on the field before kickoff and Mitch addresses the team “Let’s win this game for Frank”. This game was played on either Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur one of the Jewish holy days and Mitch was being respectful. His comment touched me. Incidentally, we beat Southeastern 41 to O.

Those memories stand out as if they happened yesterday. Reading that e-mail from Larry jarred me to say the least. I feel helpless because I would like to be able to do something for Mitch. Yet, I know my limitations .My blog yesterday strikes me as insignificant within life’s big picture. Yesterday, I was thinking about running faster than Tony and today I feel said about Mitch. I guess I’m pretty lucky because no one ever knows the future.

I called my friend Dr. Wayne Fiske a psychologist. Wayne and I have been friends since high school and graduate school. We talked about Mitch and about our meeting, at his home, after the reunion before I left to return to California. We also talked about my book and sending him a release since he is in the book also. He thought that after the book is published that I should consider creating an Institute or Center for aspiring   fifty-year old athletes. Scott Fitzgerald’s quote might fit .Wayne’s idea might lead to another journey.