2009, The Molitor existence....

Meeting one of your heroes.... is a pretty exceptional thing. I've been fortunate enough to have met all of mine. "Meeting" meaning, way more than a quick chat and a signature for that picture on the wall.

But meeting one that exceeds every possible expectation, helps define a life you plan to live.... from a life you think you want to live.

Paul was a pure hitter. Not in the Babe way, not in the Geohrig way either. For some, he was not even in the same class as Ted Williams. But Paul hit the ball just the same.

I am who I am, from one sentence uttered at the end of a Brewers game. One sentence, from someone that REALLY understood what it was to live. Someone, that may understand better than anyone I know, what it means to really live.

At the time, he was an incredulous 26 hits away from a record that had stood for an incredibly long time. He was also a phenomenon that had never experienced his full potential. He was not a whole lot more than what he went to bat with every single night however, he was just Paul Molitor.

Paul Molitor is just that, nothing more than Paul Molitor.

"There's two choices each of us need to make. The most important, is to not just exist. The other is to merely exist and get through the day-to-day crap as best we can." he said with the steely glare that could freeze a pitcher faster than any words thrown out at a press conference, prior to the game.

I chose to "hear" those words, spoken as a wisdom handed down from the voice of experience. "From this point on, I will not just exist." I said, as I left County Stadium that night.

Dying is what you can decide that you are doing. Living however, is a choice that you may not even know is right in front of you.

I implore you dear reader, choose wisely!

For dying is inevitable! But living, I mean really living! Is something you'll only ever get one shot at!

I may have thought I'd lived a full life right up until this moment. But moving forward, I may live more than most of you think imaginable. I have no time to lose, no time to reflect. I only have time left. It won't be wasted on misery, nore on reflection.

My time may be wasted in the eyes of those more judgemental than I. But not one moment of my own personal time, will ever be wasted in the pursuit of something less meaningful than living itself.

One freezing cold Wisconsin evening, as the frost had decided to make it's return to County Stadium, one man made me consider the true meaning of life.

"Live or exist! It's really just that simple."

I've always chosen living but for some reason, things start anew today. As they did back a few years ago. My Molitor moment, just may have taken a few year's longer to really sink in, than even he may have expected, as he was trying to teach me.

But teach me he did!

I choose to live! Existing is for the dying.

My sincerest thanks for dropping by....