My Thoughts On Turning 50
January 24, 2018 at 5:31 p.m.
By Roger Grossman-
I know, that seems silly but I expected to move and think a little slower that day. Of course, I didn’t. Forty came and went, and I was OK with it. I went on functioning as normally as I do in the uncommon life that I live.
Turning 50, however, has been different.
Saturday I hit the big 5-0! Over the last few weeks leading up to hitting half-a-hundred, I spent a lot of time reflecting back on my life to this point. Which, if you know me at all, is probably not a big surprise to you. I am a very reflective person who appreciates history and understands that knowing where you’ve been matters in figuring out where you are and where you’re headed.
So I have spent some time contemplating that.
Go back to the summer of 1967. Dale and Delores Grossman announce to their four daughters and one son that the reason why their mom has been so sick lately was because she was pregnant, and they’d be getting a new sibling in January.
My mom explained to me, as I got older, that they were done having children when she got pregnant. I was hardly an unwanted pregnancy, but I was very much unplanned. I could not have had better parents, and I love my siblings very much.
My love for sports sprung up quickly, and our backyard became a series of imaginary sports venues: the grape vine became the outfield wall at Wrigley Field, the two-story brick house transformed into the bleachers, the swing set doubled as a soccer goal and football uprights in autumn.
I grew up just outside of Argos in an area where there were no kids my own age. It never bothered me, because my over-active imagination had little trouble acting out all the parts of big league sporting events all by myself.
It was there, in those moments, in that place, that I started honing my craft as a play-by-play announcer.
But there was a problem. I had two speech impediments: I had a bad lisp and a minor stuttering problem that was brought to the surface by stress.
In first grade, I had to stand up and tell everyone what I wanted to be when I grew up, and the snickers were deafening. The Daffy Duck jokes soon followed, and my spirit was crushed. My teachers and parents put me into speech therapy, and for the next five-and-a-half school years I spent two hours every Monday, Wednesday and Friday sitting in a room with my friends, Joey, Jeff and Tami working on speaking – all with the goal of being on the radio.
Getting accepted to the radio/TV program at Butler University gave me that first chance to have my play-by-play heard by someone other than the birds and cats in my backyard. That happened because of the encouragement of my senior English teacher, Nancy Miller.
My internship at WRSW in 1991 completed my degree, and Harvey Miller told me they needed a color commentator for Warsaw Tiger football and a girls’ basketball play-by-play announcer.
Now 27 years and over 2,300 game broadcasts later, I am 50.
This journey through radio has taken me farther than anyone, including myself, ever thought possible. The echoes of the giggling from first grade have long-since faded away.
I am married to a wonderful woman who has blossomed into the best teacher should could possibly be and is a Godly influence in her classroom, her neighborhood and her community … and who gives up virtually every Friday and Saturday night to me being gone broadcasting games.
I have been to China twice since I turned 40, and now am “dad” to a beautiful 8-year old girl and a handsome, kind, young almost-4-year-old boy.
I am blessed beyond all imagination.
But hitting 50 has forced me to ask the question “So … now what?”
The answer is “I have no idea.”
I always thought that God had brought me through all of those early challenges to give me a platform to share Him with my radio audience – and I do that. But there is something more going on – like sports broadcasting isn’t the final landing spot for me. Like even that was training me for something else, something bigger.
Turning 50, for me, has forced me to face my own mortality more than even a heart attack almost 10 years ago did. I have things that I want to do and need to do before my time is up.
I want to be an encouragement to more kids, but especially those who have speech issues. It’s not the end of the world and it doesn’t have to be like that forever, if kids are willing to work at it like I did. If you have someone like that in your life, remember me.
I want to do more than just entertain people with my work. I want you to know that I care about more than just scoring averages or quarterback ratings.
I want to reflect God more in my life.
I could not have done this without support from you in the community. Your constant encouragement is a huge boost to me each and every time you give it.
Turning 50 is hardly a mid-life crisis. But it is the countdown clock on the street pole telling me the light is going to change from green to yellow soon, and as I approach and pass the intersection of my life and 50 years old, I choose to speed up and go through that intersection at full speed.
How I deal with turning 50 is my choice, and after taking a big, deep breath, I choose to face forward and keep moving.
I know, that seems silly but I expected to move and think a little slower that day. Of course, I didn’t. Forty came and went, and I was OK with it. I went on functioning as normally as I do in the uncommon life that I live.
Turning 50, however, has been different.
Saturday I hit the big 5-0! Over the last few weeks leading up to hitting half-a-hundred, I spent a lot of time reflecting back on my life to this point. Which, if you know me at all, is probably not a big surprise to you. I am a very reflective person who appreciates history and understands that knowing where you’ve been matters in figuring out where you are and where you’re headed.
So I have spent some time contemplating that.
Go back to the summer of 1967. Dale and Delores Grossman announce to their four daughters and one son that the reason why their mom has been so sick lately was because she was pregnant, and they’d be getting a new sibling in January.
My mom explained to me, as I got older, that they were done having children when she got pregnant. I was hardly an unwanted pregnancy, but I was very much unplanned. I could not have had better parents, and I love my siblings very much.
My love for sports sprung up quickly, and our backyard became a series of imaginary sports venues: the grape vine became the outfield wall at Wrigley Field, the two-story brick house transformed into the bleachers, the swing set doubled as a soccer goal and football uprights in autumn.
I grew up just outside of Argos in an area where there were no kids my own age. It never bothered me, because my over-active imagination had little trouble acting out all the parts of big league sporting events all by myself.
It was there, in those moments, in that place, that I started honing my craft as a play-by-play announcer.
But there was a problem. I had two speech impediments: I had a bad lisp and a minor stuttering problem that was brought to the surface by stress.
In first grade, I had to stand up and tell everyone what I wanted to be when I grew up, and the snickers were deafening. The Daffy Duck jokes soon followed, and my spirit was crushed. My teachers and parents put me into speech therapy, and for the next five-and-a-half school years I spent two hours every Monday, Wednesday and Friday sitting in a room with my friends, Joey, Jeff and Tami working on speaking – all with the goal of being on the radio.
Getting accepted to the radio/TV program at Butler University gave me that first chance to have my play-by-play heard by someone other than the birds and cats in my backyard. That happened because of the encouragement of my senior English teacher, Nancy Miller.
My internship at WRSW in 1991 completed my degree, and Harvey Miller told me they needed a color commentator for Warsaw Tiger football and a girls’ basketball play-by-play announcer.
Now 27 years and over 2,300 game broadcasts later, I am 50.
This journey through radio has taken me farther than anyone, including myself, ever thought possible. The echoes of the giggling from first grade have long-since faded away.
I am married to a wonderful woman who has blossomed into the best teacher should could possibly be and is a Godly influence in her classroom, her neighborhood and her community … and who gives up virtually every Friday and Saturday night to me being gone broadcasting games.
I have been to China twice since I turned 40, and now am “dad” to a beautiful 8-year old girl and a handsome, kind, young almost-4-year-old boy.
I am blessed beyond all imagination.
But hitting 50 has forced me to ask the question “So … now what?”
The answer is “I have no idea.”
I always thought that God had brought me through all of those early challenges to give me a platform to share Him with my radio audience – and I do that. But there is something more going on – like sports broadcasting isn’t the final landing spot for me. Like even that was training me for something else, something bigger.
Turning 50, for me, has forced me to face my own mortality more than even a heart attack almost 10 years ago did. I have things that I want to do and need to do before my time is up.
I want to be an encouragement to more kids, but especially those who have speech issues. It’s not the end of the world and it doesn’t have to be like that forever, if kids are willing to work at it like I did. If you have someone like that in your life, remember me.
I want to do more than just entertain people with my work. I want you to know that I care about more than just scoring averages or quarterback ratings.
I want to reflect God more in my life.
I could not have done this without support from you in the community. Your constant encouragement is a huge boost to me each and every time you give it.
Turning 50 is hardly a mid-life crisis. But it is the countdown clock on the street pole telling me the light is going to change from green to yellow soon, and as I approach and pass the intersection of my life and 50 years old, I choose to speed up and go through that intersection at full speed.
How I deal with turning 50 is my choice, and after taking a big, deep breath, I choose to face forward and keep moving.
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