We Share-in Derek Jeter’s Secret Weapon…….a Mom……Just Like You!!

If you are any type of sports fan, this was a once in a lifetime weekend.  If you are a mom, you know the feeling all too well.  Derek Jeter’s retirement from baseball closes a chapter of a once-in-a-lifetime player.  One our grandchildren will ask about.  During all of the fanfare, since last Thursday’s storybook ending at Yankee stadium, I was captivated by Derek Jeter’s mom.

Why?  Because she was such a mom, that’s why.

We could talk about Derek’s upbringing and how he credits his parents for what he has become and why the world thinks he is such a class act but it was the actions of Dorothy, his mom, that I found so natural.  I was drawn to her on every camera shot.

Each time the camera showed his parents, his mom’s reactions were so identifiable as a move a mom, any mom, would do.  Biting a lip, wringing her hands, staring intently, and crying when she did could be identified by any mom and any thing they attend for their child.

This weekend closed a book on a most incredible career, but to Dorothy Jeter, it was just being with her son; as she always has been; that served as a reminder and a tribute to every mom.

Early, very early, in his career when he was not doing well, she remind him that he could always come home.  Every time she watched him play, it was just ‘her Derek’ who always loved baseball who was playing.  The world of sports, and beyond, adored Mr. November—–she just loved Derek.

She is every mom.

In as much as the spotlight on Derek forced the light to spill onto his parents, it was clear that this man’s feet were planted the way they were in respect, humility, and confidence because of who was waiting for him at home each night.

As I watched this weekend unfold, I thought of all the moms out there who do not have a “Derek Jeter”; they have a Susie, a Bob, a Nancy, a Tiffany, a Mark, A Kyle or any child who are just who they are because they have you on the sidelines.  Dorothy Jeter is no different from any other mom out there.

They are just there.

Good times, bad times, happy times, proud times, teachable times and every other time that comes along, moms are there.  Up at 2 am, moms are there.  Hoping for their child, they are there.  They cheer when 45,000 cheer and they cheer alone…..for their child.  And that is what makes us so special.  We have a mom on the sideline cheering us as no other.

So it was clear to me this weekend that Derek Jeter was a very unique and gifted athlete; and the likes of him comes once in a very long while.  His mom is extremely gifted also, but from my viewpoint we can take much away from the fact that she loved her son and was there for him; how lucky that most of us have that as well.  We have that same loving mother who is beside us through everything, unconditionally.  Our one-person cheering section through it all.

It’s what we do with what they give us that will decide how proud we make her.  Living to our potential is all they ask………and in their minds living to our potential is good enough for their hall of fame.   And THAT is good enough for me.

I am a diabetes dad.

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