I saw a senior golfer on television a few years back that surprised me. He was winning! He was on the Champions Tour and he was making more money on the Champions Tour than he made his entire PGA Tour career. His name is Denis Watson. While on the PGA Tour the guys called him the other Watson. Back then Tom Watson was a superstar in the sport. The reason Denis didn’t make a bigger name for himself on the PGA Tour was that his career was cut short by injury and illness.
He had some neck and wrist injuries and was really desperately sick. After being on the tour for a couple of years, and without telling anyone, he began to slowly grow seriously ill. It started with headaches. Mild ones at first, then blinding ones. Literally, his headaches were so terrible that he could hardly see. Next, his equilibrium began to fail. Sam Sneed, a professional golfer in the fifties and sixties once said that “balance was eighty percent of a golfers swing.” Denis was mysteriously losing his. He called the doctor who suggested it was food poisoning. But that wasn’t it. Denis’ health continued to deteriorate. Something was wrong! He was missing cuts and withdrawing from tournaments. (Just so you understand the timeline of the story, Denis played golf in the late 1970s and early 1980s).
Let’s fast forward to 2007. It was the Senior PGA Championship. The player in the lead doubles the last hole and Denis Watson sinks a long putt! He holds onto the lead to win the major championship! The announcers in the booth were talking about how hot Denis was in the middle of the 1980s even though he had a lot of injuries. They remembered a neck thing along with a wrist and an elbow problem. They didn’t talk about the severe sickness he had earlier in his career. It was likely they didn’t even know.
Denis Watson eventually found his way to a doctor in Atlanta, Georgia. The doctor heard all about the debilitating symptoms he had; the headaches, the balance problems, nausea, and everything else. He ran extensive tests and rendered his diagnosis.
It took Denis years to battle back and get out touring and golfing again. This doctor found the answer and helped Denis get back on tour to compete and win again. You see this doctor just happened to be a world-renowned allergist.
People can develop allergies throughout their lives and that is what happened to Denis Watson. The promising professional golfer of the 1970s and 1980s might have set records while on the tour, but became ill. While navigating the miles and miles of green courses, Denis acquired an extreme allergic reaction to trees and grass.
Working with a wide variety of students and families within our schools can be extremely rewarding and challenging at the same time. Many of the challenging aspects of working with people are often symptoms of things that are hidden. Without Denis continuing to look for an answer to the issues his body was telling him, he might not have made a comeback from his condition.
I am proud to say that the Redding School District family of employees has always been a place where we don’t just treat the symptoms of issues, but look for the underlying cause of issues. Think about students that you struggle with the most, academically or behaviorally, and find a place for them that will help you get to the root of the issue. Relationships, listening, taking the time, and understanding are precious tools we can use to help our kids. Thanks for all that you do.
What a great Open House last night at Cypress School. Thank you Cypress staff for hosting your parents and opening your doors. A great deal of happy and proud faces on parents, students, and staff members. Can't wait to join the open houses at the other sites.
Enjoy your weekend,
Rob