“I grew up between Toulminville, DIP and West Mobile.  My dad coached baseball and mentored a lot of boys and young men. I went to Davidson and played baseball at Samford.  My grandaddy was a baseball player and my grandmother grew up with Hank Aaron. I visited Hank since I was a little boy. My mom was a doctor of education and over special education in Mobile. My uncle was J.T. Gaines, one of the first black principals in Mobile. My family is education. The Bible says pass your blessings down. I am blessed by the education and love of my family and I try to pass those down. I got a nursing degree and was a traveling RN. I went back to school and got my masters in anesthesiology and became a nurse anesthetist. God answers prayers and gave me my wife. I practiced in Florida and we built a house there. My mom has lupus and we moved to Fairhope so I could help her. My wife loves me enough to let me move back home.

We have been in Fairhope for seven years. We have boys and I immediately started coaching baseball.  Fairhope has poverty and there is a separation here that affects our kids. Bats and gloves are expensive. Football costs $100. That is a big hundred dollars for a single mom working two jobs trying to pay the light bill. We need scholarships for sports so all kids who want to play can play. It is not a kid’s fault he was born into a situation. You never know what gifts these kids have. They could be the one who solves cancer. Give them a chance and see what God’s plan is for them. Shake up and sift, you will find gold in these kids. 

I started Lampro Asteri, the Greek name for Shining Star, and go into Fairhope Intermediate School every Friday morning to speak life to boys. We talk about the seven habits of successful people and how it relates to Jesus. This year we are also going into Fairhope Middle School on Thursdays so we can be with these guys for four years. We bring in professionals to speak because some of these kids don’t know what a doctor or lawyer looks like. I want to expose them to all vocations and professions because they may not know the opportunities they have. This shows them why they are in school and why they need math and science and to study. We have 65 to 70 kids each week. We need more men who have mature Christians with the heart of Jesus to help or speak to the guys and tell them how they got to where they are now. We also need sponsors for breakfast.

We teach about leadership through the acronym of FAITH. F is God first. A is attitude and is the glass half full or empty? I is integrity and doing the right thing when no one else is looking. T is truth and H is honesty. We are going to ride this ladder up and down this year about putting God first and building character. We see things and judge from past experiences, but learning from other people’s experiences make us grow. Or you may have the epiphany that you were wrong. If we can have one boy who says the program made a difference, then hallelujah. That is a generational change and I have seen it. Life is hard, I wish I had this when I was in school. 

I have end-stage glaucoma and had to retire from being a nurse anesthetist. I started seeing rainbows and my vision became cloudy. I thought it was stress, but my dad has it, too.  The disease ran fast in me, but my faith keeps me strong and serving others keeps me going. I am making the most of every day with my family and try to see things with my eyes closed to remember the view. I have a mental folder of these moments so I will always remember them. I am praying the world doesn’t go dark on me and I can see my great-grandchildren. It is all in God’s plan.