Feb. 25, 2024, column from the Amarillo Globe-News:
Party reminds us: Don’t just do it; pass it on
By Mike Haynes
Do
you sometimes think it would be good if people would get together with family
and friends to celebrate a loved one, expressing love and thanks to the person
while they are around to hear it instead of waiting to say those kind words at
a memorial service?
My
family has done that a few times through the years for various birthdays,
usually inviting our kin from far and wide and good friends who live close
enough to come. The Saturday before last, three days before his 93rd
birthday on Feb. 20, we honored my dad, Johnny Haynes.
Johnny Haynes
With
knee, hip and back troubles, Dad finally has had to give up most of the sports in
which he excelled: tennis, skiing, roller hockey on the tennis court,
basketball on the tennis court, front-yard touch football and pretty much
anything else somebody wanted to play.
Even
with trouble getting around, he can’t resist competition. When weather permits,
he still plays a few holes on McLean’s sand-green golf course and on the grass
in Pampa. And almost every day, he and my youngest brother, Sam, rack up the
snooker balls for a couple of games at Dad’s house. As of last week, the win count
was Dad: 1,558, Sam: 1,553, in the game that’s similar to pool and billiards.
Dad
also doesn’t rope or get on a horse anymore, watching from the pickup or
through the fence when we work cattle.
It
isn’t just physical skills. He led a Sunday school class at the Methodist
Church well into his 80s. He was a stalwart in the church choir and the
Methodist Men’s Quartet.
What
stood out at his party, though, wasn’t so much all the athletic, ranch and
church activities that he succeeded in personally. It was the many people to
whom he has taught some of those skills.
Carey Don Smith and Johnny Haynes
Many
passages in the Old Testament encourage passing on knowledge and wisdom from
one generation to another. Two Saturdays ago, multiple members of the family
and the community stood up to recall how they had benefited from Dad’s example
and his direct instruction.
In
addition to showing his five kids how to throw a ball, rope a calf (that didn’t
stick with most of us), keep your head down and your eye on the golf ball, do
pushups and so many more skills, he was a mentor for young people throughout
his hometown.
He
had some official positions, such as coaching boys in Little League and girls
in youth softball, but when he heard of a teenager wanting to learn tennis or young
people needing help with their golf swings, he took them under his wing.
Although my sister played basketball under outstanding high school coaches and
nationally known college coaches, he was the guy who got her to that point.
I’m
sure I wasn’t the only young man who learned from him how to sing bass in the
choir, how to play a few guitar chords or how to tackle even before I got to
play on our Tiger football team.
Dad
became known as an unofficial tutor and coach to his kids and to McLean young
people in tennis, golf, running, basketball, softball, baseball – and I’m sure
I’m leaving some activities out.
Jennifer Evans
So
that birthday party was a lesson, not just about my dad, but about the
influence all of us can have on those coming after us – and those all around
us. One reason the Good News of Christianity exploded upon the world and still
blesses us so mightily is the effort the followers of Jesus exerted to “pass it
on.” The veteran preacher Paul told a young Timothy, “…the things you have
heard me say … entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach
others.” (2 Timothy 2:2)
That
generation-to-generation progression works in a spiritual context but also in
any field of endeavor and in our daily interaction with families and friends.
One
cousin brought up something about Dad that I had not consciously thought about.
When she came into the family as a young girl, she was apprehensive because she
was new to those of us who had grown up together. She said Dad immediately put
her at ease with his folksy, friendly attitude.
That
was another lesson from the party. I’m glad Dad got to hear someone thank him
for always welcoming everybody with a smile.
