Sometimes I think I am prone to forgetting just how blessed my life has been. It’s so easy to get caught up in the daily challenges of life and lose sight of all the great things we encounter every day. Today, I was sitting at my desk trying to attack my work for the day, and Allison kept begging me to lift her up to look at my shelf of memorabilia. She pointed to several items, wanting me to tell her what they were, and when she pointed to one particular item, it struck me…
It was a picture of my with two of my childhood heroes, Roger Staubach and Randy White. I’m sure your first thought is just how much hair I still had back in 1999, but mine was that it’s so cool that I actually got to meet one of my biggest heroes (Staubach). It got me to thinking about just how many experiences like this I’ve had. As I thought about it, I realized that I have been lucky enough to meet several of my heroes in person – men like Roger Staubach, Tom Landry, Darrell Royal, Mack Brown, and Earl Campbell. I was even lucky enough to be around most of them multiple times, and have some good conversations with them. That is something not a lot of people get to do – meet and get to know their heroes.
I also got to thinking that even beyond just my heroes, I’ve been lucky enough to meet a long list of other famous people… and at the risk of sounding like a 10 year old at show and tell, I thought I would brainstorm a quick list:
Sports Luminaries:
Roger Staubach, Randy White, Tony Dorsett, Earl Campbell, Lynn Swann, Jerry Sisemore, Priest Holmes, Ricky Williams, Darrell Royal, Mack Brown, Tom Landry, Ron Franklin, Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Brent Musburger, Rick Barnes, Drew Brees, Chris Mihm, Eric Metcalf, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Daryl Johnston, Jimmy Johnson
Politicians and Movie Stars:
President George W Bush, Governor Rick Perry, Governor Ann Richards, Karen Hughes, Bob Bullock, Larry Gatlin, Jerry Jeff Walker, Jack Ingram, Matthew McConaughey, Kevin Costner, Debbie Reynolds, Craig Sheffer, Gabrielle Anwar…
I’m sure there are others, but that is enough for now. At the end of the day, meeting someone famous really isn’t all that big of a deal, but it is a cool experience. And it’s funny how God can use what seems like an unwanted distraction in our days to remind us of the good things we so often forget, even if it’s only something as trivial as an encounter with a celebrity that he can use to remind us just how many blessings we’ve long since forgotten.
