Friday, October 12, 2007

The story I don't know

I saw in the obituaries that Dan Jarms' dad died the other day. Even though he was a pastor at Faith and worked at NBC, all I remember about Dan is how his mom used to do the potty dance on the sideline at his basketball games. Mom used to make so much fun of her and thought she acted like a freak. Maybe she did. Maybe Dan was embarrassed by his mother's behavior. Maybe not. But there was a part of the story none of us knew:

Dan had a brother that died when Dan was in high school. Maybe his mom acted the way she did because she knew what it was like to lose a child. Maybe she knew that there was nothing more important than supporting your child and making sure they knew you were proud of them and cared about their interests. Maybe she knew that it wasn't enough to just sit in the bleachers as a silent spectator. Maybe we shouldn't have been so quick to think she was nutso when we didn't know the whole story. Maybe when I start to judge people based on nothing but a few isolated observations, I should remember that everyone has a story I don't know.

3 comments:

Mandy said...

That's a good one, Tish.

Tish said...

Are you being sarcastic? I can never tell if you're serious or not.

Mandy said...

no I am serious. I, in fact, shared it with James this morning. He doesn't quite understand however, b/c he never watched her do her "potty dance" as you call it. But it's a good story nonetheless.