Dads and Marines

Summer in the Northwoods lasts just a little longer than an ABC sitcom.  Winter, on the other hand, is a season that has a longer run than the Ed Sullivan Show.  The older I get I find that winter is a season I just...endure.  Kinda like my right knee.

But, today, it is Summer.  I have parked myself in front of a fan while wandering through cyberspace.  I've swapped out my cup of coffee (aka The Elixir of Knowledge), for a tall, cold glass of iced tea (aka The Beverage of Solace).

And today is Father's Day

I scroll down the Facebook entries.  Here's a post that shows some UFC guys visiting Marine Camp Quantico and the Marine Corps Martial Arts Center for Excellence (MACE).  They're learning firsthand how the Marines teach the deadly arts.

Remind me never to mess with a Marine.  Ora UFC guy.

They're doing a thing called "The Last of the Mohicans".  I think it's named after the run in the movie, where a guy runs out of the fort to courier a message.  Could be wrong.

Each helmeted and padded UFC guy picks out a non-munitions, non-lethal rubber "weapon" (rubber knife, baton, etc.) and runs through the woods with a Marine observer aka The Umpire.

Every UFC guy runs into a two-on-one situation.  Two marines, one UFC guy.  The UFC guy, in every case, is "terminated" without beating a single Marine.

Well, c'mon, right?  Two-on-one.  Unchoreographed with no script.  Really.  How fair is that?

A UFC guy, to his credit, asks The Umpire what he shoulda done.

The reply is matter-of-fact.

"You're gonna die but you gotta take one out so your buddy behind you only has to fight one."

The Beverage of Solace pauses in mid-air as that sinks in.

I think I'd want a different outcome.  One where I come out more or less intact.

"You'll die...so your buddy only has to fight one.”

I stare out the window.  A swig of the Beverage swirls around words that I've read many times.

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

I would see this post today of all days.

On Father's Day.

But, hey...isn't that the true essence of being a Dad? Laying it down for the family.  So their fights are easier.  Dying to self for those you love.

Like He did for us.

The Beverage of Solace swirls the dust away from another thought.

Now how'd I remember that?  I'm a Packers fan!.

It was during an interview with Mike Ditka who, at the time, was the coach of the Chicago Bears.  It was a few years ago, the Super Bowl year of '85, when he made this statement.  He borrowed it from Isaac Newton. He was summing up his younger years and his family.

"If I've accomplished anything it's because I've stood on the shoulders of giants."

He was talking about his father and his father before him.  And here's the thing about having someone stand on your shoulders.

It helps him or her reach higher -  but it limits you. And me..

Dying to self and laying it down.  So their fight is easier. So they can reach higher.

That's what Dads and Marines do, eh?