small of stature

Now, as I stood before him, I thought of those lost opportunities. How many times have we

all let such moments pass? A boy graduates from school, a daughter gets married. We go

through the motions of the ceremony, but we don‘t seek out our children and find a quiet

moment to tell them what they have meant to us. Or what they might expect to face in the

years ahead.

How fast the years had passed. Daniel was born in New Orleans, LA., in 1962, slow to walk

and talk, and small of stature. He was the tiniest in his class, but he developed a warm,

outgoing nature and was popular with his peers. He was coordinated and 6)agile, and he

became adept in sports.

Baseball gave him his earliest challenge. He was an outstanding pitcher in Little League,

and eventually, as a senior in high school, made the varsity, winning half the team‘s games

with a record of five wins and two losses. At graduation, the coach named Daniel the team‘s

most valuable player.