Well, I tried to think again this am and nothing happened. Here is an inspirational article from my favourite sports writer I think you will find interesting. If you are feeling down today or need a lift please read this article. http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/sports/11954659.htm BBT&T, BBH…
Finding your worth..
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wheresjim 
Kodiak Said:
on 22 June, 2005 at 8:00 am
What article? Just an application!
where's jim? Said:
on 22 June, 2005 at 8:11 am
You will have to register and login to Ohio.com to view the article.
where's jim? Said:
on 22 June, 2005 at 8:13 am
Without arm, Dravecky finding his worth
By Terry Pluto
He can still feel the arm.
Sometimes, the hand itches. The elbow aches. The fingers seem tight.
Only they’re gone.
All gone.
The arm, the shoulder and even part of the collarbone, amputated in 1991.
But Dave Dravecky has moments when he’s sure the left arm is there, the arm that won 64 major-league games and pitched for the National League in the 1983 All-Star Game.
The left arm that made him special.
The left arm that made him famous and wealthy.
The left arm that was him.
Then, it was gone.
For a while, so was much of him. After all, pitchers are called “arms.” A sore-armed pitcher has no value to his team, and that gives his self-esteem more of a beating than any hitter ever could.
Dravecky will discuss all this at the Marriott Key Center in downtown Cleveland at noon on Monday in an appearance to benefit the Salvation Army.
“I’m talking about `The Worth of a Man,’ ” he said in a recent telephone interview. “What is our true value? We can’t be defined simply by what we do.”
Yet, one of the one of the first things most of us ask when meeting a stranger is, “What do you do for a living?”
Nothing wrong with that question, said Dravecky, but it really doesn’t tell you much about a person.
“What is it like when we lose something that seems to mean everything — and how to deal with that?” said Dravecky. “I know about loss and grief.”
A survivor
Dravecky is a Youngstown native who now lives in Colorado Springs after retiring from baseball in 1989.
He made a comeback after cancer was found in his left arm and won his first start. Five days later, he pitched at Montreal, and his arm shattered. It broke into two pieces.
He retired from the San Francisco Giants, and soon the cancer returned.
That led to the amputation in 1991.
Dravecky now heads up an organization called Outreach of Hope. It helps people suffering from grief, cancer, depression.
“I’ve learned so much about pain over the years,” he said.
Part of it was physical. All the radiation, all the treatments, then the shock to the system when the arm was removed.
Then came the mourning.
The nerves still think the left arm is there.
“Every day, something hurts where my arm used to be,” said Dravecky. “But that’s not the worst part.”
It’s the depression.
“Only, I wouldn’t admit it,” he said. “After I retired from baseball, I helped write books. I took speaking engagements all over the country. I was constantly on the go. I didn’t give myself a chance to really feel what happened to me.”
While Dravecky was in denial, his wife sunk into depression.
“I refused to accept that,” he said. “I didn’t understand why she couldn’t just snap out of it.”
A faith issue
Jan and Dave Dravecky are serious Christians, and Dravecky believed if your faith is strong enough — you can just pray your way out of anything.
“You just dig deeper, work harder,” he said. “I didn’t think we needed counseling. Jan is a very bright woman. I was a physically strong guy. We both lost what was our strongest qualities — my arm and her mind.”
Eventually, Dravecky agreed to help his wife receive some Christian counseling. But that came against the advice of some in their church along with Dravecky’s own doubts.
“I was still in denial about myself,” he said. “As Jan was starting to come out of it, I fell into it.”
Depression is real. It’s bleak. It feels like it will never end. It teases, seeming like it’s lifting, only for the clouds to come back even darker and scarier than ever.
“My story is as much about dealing with grief and depression as it is the loss of my arm,” Dravecky said.
Dravecky writes about this in his amazingly candid and moving book, When You Can’t Come Back. He talks about everything from having to switch churches to trying to keep his marriage together.
“I wouldn’t communicate with Jan,” said Dravecky. “She wanted to tell me something, and I’d half-listen and fall asleep. Or I’d answer her questions by saying something was `fine.’ My way of dealing with grief and anger was to shut down.”
She desperately wanted him to open up, to share what she was feeling.
Both of them had counseling. Healing was slow, and not always steady, but it was happening.
“I’d say the last five years have been the happiest of our marriage,” he said.
Jan Dravecky is on the staff of a Colorado Springs church working in women’s ministries. She also speaks about depression to groups.
Dravecky coached his son in high school.
“I never pushed Jonathan,” Dravecky said. “The head coach’s son also was on the team. I told him to deal with my son, and I handled his son. It worked well because we tried to keep the pressure off them.”
His son now attends Azusa Pacific, where he’s on the baseball team.
Dravecky speaks about 25 times a year. His foundation deals with families in trying circumstances.
“We are prescribing more anti-depressant drugs than any time in history,” he said. “So many people are dealing with cancer. So many are dealing with depression and grief. So many people really feel alone. I see now that God has called me to reach through my pain and experience to help them.”
——————————————————————————–
For information on Dave Dravecky’s appearance in Cleveland, call 216-928-7940. For information on Dravecky’s foundation, log onto the Internet at http://www.outreachofhope.org. Messages for Terry Pluto can be left at 330-996-3816.
Kodiak Said:
on 23 June, 2005 at 6:45 am
I like the story of Dave Dravecky.