Thursday, December 14, 2006

Don't Look Back

"Don't look back. Something might gaining on you."

"Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching."

"You win a few, you lose a few. Some get rained out. But you got to dress for them all."


Can you match these quotes with the people that said them?













Wrong. They are all attributed to Satchel Paige, the great Negro League pitcher. Satchel was both a great quote and perhaps the greatest pitcher of his generation. Though he didn't get to pitch in the major leagues until he was 45 years old, he acquitted himself well, going 6-1 with a 2.48 E.R.A. to help Cleveland to the 1948 pennant. He pitched regularly until 1954 when he was 50 years old. A major league lifetime ERA of 3.29. Amazing. I knew the first quote came from Paige, wasn't sure about the second, and thought the third quote was from the movie Bull Durham. I should have known that Hollywood writers were too dumb to come up with a line like that.

Anyway, people seem to want to know "how you got cancer", as if it was some social disease. Damned if I know, and it doesn't really matter anyway. The fact is I have it, and I need to deal with the cards I've been dealt. There's something that Melissa and I did at the outset of this ordeal back in late 2002. We made a deal that win, lose or draw, we would not ever second guess our decisions because: (1) It can drive you insane; and (2) It's pointless. The current situation is what it is, and no amount of second guessing is going to change that.

Our last visit to the doctor didn't go so good. My lung is still filled with crap, and the brain MRI discovered a couple of small metasteses, including one on the brain stem. It looks like the end game is in sight, but we'll try to find the right balance between quality vs. quantity of life. Don't look back.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Boston

Dont look back
A new day is breakin
Its been too long since I felt this way
I dont mind where I get taken
The road is callin
Today is the day

I can see
It took so long to realize
Im much too strong
Not to comprimise
Now I see what I am is holding me down
Ill turn it around

I finally see the dawn arrivin
I see beyond the road Im drivin
Far away and left behind

Its a new horizon and Im awakin now
Oh I see myself in a brand new way
The sun is shinin
The clouds are breakin
canse I cant lose now, theres no game to play

I can tell
Theres no more time left to criticize
Ive seen what I could not recognize
Everthing in my life was leading me on
But I can be strong

I finally see the dawn arrivin
I see beyond the road Im drivin
Far away and left behind

Thank You Neil Sholz

Tom Clarke said...

Great song. Thanks I almost used that song in this post. But since I only have it on album, I would have to clear off the the turntable, etc. since as Crash Davis said in Bull Durham "I hate people who get the words wrong." (They probably stole that line from someone too).

Ever notice how bands with great solo debuts never quite reach the same heights again? I'm thinking of the Band, Boston, Jimi Hendrix Experience, etc. Strange.

Anonymous said...

Hey Tom,

I hope they can radiate those little mets away. I've heard its easier than chemo, but you're the pro.

Good luck,
aaron

Kelly said...

love boston...love lyrics too. i sing words wrong all the time though.

here's were i get my lyrics:

www.letssingit.com


freakin' cancer....i HATE it.

Anonymous said...

Tom,
I just want you to know what a team you have behind you. So many people are thinking of you and cheering you on. Please know we care and are praying right beside you.