REMEMBER RULE #1 It’s Golden by Mac Anderson   I grew up in Trenton, a west Tennessee town of five thousand people. I have wonderful memories of those first eighteen years, and many people in Trenton influenced my life in very positive ways. My football coach, Walter Kilzer, taught me the importance of hard work, discipline, and believing in myself. My history teacher, Fred Culp, is still the funniest person I’ve ever met. He taught me that a sense of humor, and especially laughing at yourself, can be one of life’s greatest blessings.   But my father was my hero. He taught me many things, but at the top of the list, he taught me to treat people with respect...to live the Golden Rule. I remember one particular instance of him teaching this “life lesson” as if it were yesterday. Dad owned a furniture store, and I used to dust the furniture every Wednesday after school to earn my allowance. One afternoon I observed my Dad talking to all the customers as they came in...the hardware store owner, the banker, a farmer, a doctor. At the end of the day, just as Dad was closing, the garbage collector came in.   I was ready to go home, and I thought that surely Dad wouldn’t spend too much time with him. But I was wrong. Dad greeted him at the door with a big hug and talked with him about his wife and son who had been in a car accident the month before. He empathized, he asked questions, he listened, and he listened some more. I kept looking at the clock, and when the man finally left, I asked, “Dad, why did you spend so much time with him? He’s just the garbage collector.” Dad then looked at me, locked the front door to the store, and said, “Son, let’s talk.”   He said, “I’m your father and I tell you lots of stuff as all fathers should, but if you remember nothing else I ever tell you, remember this...treat every human being just the way that you would want to be treated.” He said, “I know this is not the first time you’ve heard it, but I want to make sure it’s the first time you truly understand it, because if you had understood, you would never have said what you said.” We sat there and talked for another hour about the meaning and the power of the Golden Rule. Dad said, “If you live the Golden Rule everything else in life will usually work itself out, but if you don’t, your life probably will be very unhappy and without meaning.”   I recently heard someone say, “If you teach your child the Golden Rule, you will have left them an estate of incalculable value.” Truer words were never spoken.

      One of the great sadness's of my life is that until the last couple years of his life, my father and I were not what you would call close.  He was a product of his generation and most of the men had a hard time showing love or emotion.  It was just the way it was.  I knew he loved me and he was a good provider for our family - even tho he didn't give me everything I wanted - we didn't want for much.  But, he DID pass on some great life lessons to me.  The value of hard work - and the value of a dollar. Respect is earned.  Honor and respect your elders.  To this day I still find myself calling people Mr. or Mrs. instead of using their first names, even tho they're the same age I am!  And last, The golden rule mentioned above.
      Growing up in a small farming community was a great learning experience.  I soon found out that I had many sets of "parents" and it seemed they all had these same values that they were passing on to the young folks of the community.  Sadly, there's not much of that going on in today's world.  Too bad.
      The book  Everything I needed to know about life I learned in Kindergarten  is great and the "Golden Rule" is at the core of that kindergarten experience.  Learning to respect each other - and ourselves and "doing unto others as you would have them do unto you".
      This would be a wonderful world if everyone abided by that one rule.  Rule #1!!

Have a great week!
Coach W.