One Kick At The Can
I was reading the story of Kaye Cowher’s death yesterday and found it to be both sad and inspiring. Kaye was the wife of former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher and died over the weekend from skin cancer. The story was a bit more poignant to me not because I knew her personally but because I often saw her out walking in front of our house. We live one block over from the Cowhers, and it was not uncommon to see the one or both of them out walking their dog from time to time.
I remembered thinking when I saw them that they always looked like they enjoyed each other. Think about how rare that is to see. They have been married for quite some time ( over 30 years ), and have been through a lot. I can’t imagine being married to a pro football player and coach is all that easy. Yes, there are financial benefits to it, but the sacrifice is also quite large, and I imagine the stress can be quite intense at times.
I found the story sad because I can only imagine the grief and sorrow that permeates the house. I also found it sad because I wonder if Coach Cowher regrets the time away all those years, not having any idea that it would come to this kind of sudden end. I hope for his sake he doesn’t. I hope he can look back on it and know that he was doing what he thought was right, and that there is no way to know how the story ends.
Kaye Cowher is also inspiring. She is someone I can point my daughter at and say “Look what you can do.” She was one of the first to play basketball under Title IX, and played professional basketball in the early 80’s. She was, by all accounts, a fantastic mother and wife as well.
I have stopped trying to answer the question of why this kind of thing happens. It just does. But, it’s a not-so-gentle reminder that you only get one time around, one kick at the can. Make the most of it.
