• "Cell Hell"
• Middle Age the Middleman
• Your Life Sentence
• Having A Child in College
• Finding Your Passion
• Old Friends
• Perfectionism
• Coach Henderson
• Breast Cancer

  

• Learning to laugh at yourself
• Making time for good friends
• Are you a perfectionist?
  Is that a good thing?
• Saying goodbye with a mother's special gift
• 'Empty Nest' doesn't have to mean 'emptiness'
• Dealing with frustration
• Getting through major disappointments

Video of LizLines courtesy of:
www.galifeandstyle.com

LizLines on Coach Henderson

Recently I interviewed Coach Billy Henderson. Wow! I say that even just having known him for several years. His presence is that powerful, that inspiring.

I did not know Coach Henderson as a coach. I was well out of high school before I met him. Yet, I remember hearing about him within weeks of moving to Athens. He was still the head coach at Clarke Central High School at that time. I was a newlywed and 22 years old. He was the father of five; I was five years away from becoming a mother.

He looks you in the eye as if he sees right through to your soul.I learned quickly of his reputation: one of passion, persistence, and faith. I heard stories of his unprecedented generosity, his life-transforming influence on countless young boys and his immense love for his wife Fosky and his family. I also knew that he was an avid runner and did so daily at the YMCA and that he retired from coaching due to a health problem. Though my knowledge of him was limited, I knew that this man must be special.

Let me tell you, special doesn't come even close to describing Coach Billy Henderson. Meeting him is awe-inspiring. He is tender and tough at the same time. Powerful and poised. Compassionate and convicted. He looks you in the eye as if he sees right through to your soul. You immediately feel that he is interested, truly interested, in you!

Interviewing him for the first time in 2004, I was moved to tears. First, by his sincerity when he talked about his mother, Jewell, and how she walked miles to and from work each day to save bus fare so that he could play sports. Then, by his humbleness. He was so thankful for the opportunity to play baseball and football and respectful of his family's modest circumstances that he feigned sleeping while on bus trips to the games when others got out for snacks. And by his deep-seeded sadness when he talked about the day that his 16 year-old, apple of his eye, star quarterback, first-born son died in a car accident. I didn't think that holding my composure was an option.

It was especially poignant for me in this most recent interview. You see, I have a 16-year old son. He is a high school quarterback. Gulp. But wherever your thoughts may take you surrounding tragedy or triumph, reading his book, IT CAN BE DONE, makes you a believer.

A believer that you can move beyond the most devastating situations as long as you have a purpose–a passion–for living; that you can embrace sadness and achieve success. A believer that you can change with the times and savor the memories and that you can inspire others to greatness and be inspired by others who are great.

With his story, he shows you how. It all there in black and white. His biography from childhood and star athlete to coach, father and living legend is moving, candid, and inspiring. I am a believer. IT CAN BE DONE.

Coach Henderson was a guest on AM Athens on October 18, 2005.

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