Lessons from Dining Part 1

I have tried to teach the boys to be awesome young men.  

Respect your elders, respect the ladies, respect yourself.

Show kindness and be understanding of those who may not have the same set of skills that you do.

Be a team player, show good sportsmanship.

Open your eyes and see others' needs.

Welcome differences and learn from them.

Put the toilet seat down, brush your teeth and wash your hair.

Throw away your trash.

Air out your room.

The list continues.

Some of the items on the list come easier to them than others.

Some are more important than others.

All of them are still a work in progress.

Eli is particularly great at showing kindness to older people.  He notices when a older person is opening a door and catches it for him/her.  He strikes up conversations.  Praises them for things he notices, a pet, a hat, a car...  He smiles with his beautiful contagious smile, that is nearly impossible for me to catch in a photo.  He appreciates and respects the wisdom.  He offers a glimmer of old timey values to people who probably have given up hope on his young generation.  This is one of the many attributes that make me very proud of him as a good human.

Tonight Eli did something he often does, he offered his seat to an older gentleman, and his reward was grand.  

We were waiting in the lobby of a local restaurant for our table to be ready.  Matt, Gabe and I were standing around and Eli was sitting on a bench.  An older man walked out of the bathroom and started talking to some ladies sitting on the bench next to Eli.  Eli looked up and noticed the man holding a cane and he said "sir you can sit here" and started to stand.  Some other words were exchanged that I didn't catch but then I heard words I am so proud of.  "What a young gentleman you are!  What is your name?"

Eli stood and introduced himself and extended his hand.

The older man introduced himself and then started talking to Eli about a ring he was wearing.

He took it off and let Eli put it on.

Eli politely asked if he would take a picture of it and have a photo with the man.

I wandered over to see what was going on and take some photos.

The woman the man was with shared a little of his story.  He was a retired professional football player and this was one of his Super Bowl rings.

She gave us enough information about him to make us want to dig for more!

We said goodbye and thanked him for taking time to talk with us.

As soon as we were seated I immediately started searching the web for details.

Norm Evans was the man and his story is pretty great!

He went to the Super Bowl with the Miami Dolphins 3 times. 

Two of those years the Dolphins won.  

The ring that Mr. Evans wears is the ring from the perfect season.  

THE PERFECT SEASON.  

The 1972 Dolphins are the first and only football team to go undefeated in the regular and post season that culminates in winning the Super Bowl.  Mr. Evans was on that team and started in every single game.  He is listed as one of the top 50 Dolphins ever to play the game.

Norm Evans left the Dolphins after playing 10 seasons and moved to the Pacific Northwest to join the expansion team, the Seattle Seahawks.  Not that I care about those Hawks, but he was one of the originals.

He retired ages ago but stayed in the area and made this his home. 

Mr. Evans became a Christian while he was on the Dolphin's team and dedicated much of his life to holding conferences to help strengthen professional athlete families and later military families through different organizations.

You just never know who you might be giving up your seat for.

Read more about his story here