Dear Coach Carr,

I have close to one hundred students this semester. I’m hearing all kinds of stories from them about how they and their families are being economically pummeled. Some of their parents are living separately from them because they’re first-responders. Since last week, I’ve been live-streaming my lectures to them from my home office. And, at the end of my first live-stream, I was wondering “How do I reassure them? How do I lead them in this time of crisis?” And, as I walked up to the tripod that was holding my phone to sign-off, I heard your voice. It was echoing across our practice football field. You know, it did not matter how deep we were into the season. It could be raining. It could be freezing. Of course, we were sore. Beat up. Tired. Even our moral could have been low from a loss the previous Saturday. None of that matter. You would stride onto that field and yell exuberantly “It’s a great day to be alive!” Having learned how to lead from you, I looked into the camera lens of my phone and said “We’re going to get on the other side of this. And, no matter the circumstances, it’s a great day to be alive.”

Thank you, Coach.

Love,

Hump #32 (1993)