ROUNDING THIRD AND HEADING FOR HOME

ROUNDING THIRD AND HEADING FOR HOME
by Timothy Rollins, Editor and Publisher

October 7, 2002

With the hectic pace of the last couple of weeks, the need for a little 'time-off' has been essential. Between the winding down of a couple of ongoing hassles I've had to deal with in my own life on one front, coupled with minor matters in other areas that when piled up, it has turned into a mushroom cloud of a headache. So when an opportunity to relax and get away from it all - even if only for a few hours comes along, any wise person will not only snap up a chance and take it, but run with it, which I did.

I took advantage of that by going to the temple not once, but twice this past week - something I had not done in quite some time. For those who are not Latter-day Saints, we of the faith who do attend the temple often find a sense of peace there as well the opportunity to perhaps either gain or regain our perspective - something that can get easily distorted if we allow it to. Those of other faiths and persuasions have their places they go to for the same reason - to regain their bearings.

As one chapter of my life enters the bottom half of its final inning, it is appropriate to give thanks to those who have made it possible for me to have endured the many obstacles that were thrown in my path by malevolent and vile individuals who, by engaging in an ongoing campaign of personal and total destruction on a scale that could only be described as nuclear, sought unsuccessfully to destroy my good name, honor and the reputation of integrity and reliability for which I have been known for so long.

Special thanks go to the following that have helped me through the years and stood by me through the hard times - people whose influence for good in my life has been pervasive and for whom there will be a deep and lasting appreciation. Though at times tough, their influence and at times patience has been in many a guiding light that has brought me full circle and I am once again home where it matters - that being at peace - with myself, with others for the most part, and especially with the God who gave me Life.

LuAnn and Author (May 2001) Among them, but by no means limited to, they are: First and foremost my best friend by far of 30 years LuAnn (pictured with me right), Randall, Carolyn - a friend from my days at BYU-Hawaii, Rob - who happens to also be my doctor, Todd, Don and Diana, Bryan and Cida, Jon and Lorri, Noel and Rebecca, Robyn, Mike and Sandra, Kevin and Donna, Hugh and Robyn, Ken, Steve and Heather, Alberto and Brenda, Roger and Carol, Stuart, David and Lori, Enrico and Carmen, Ivan & Ava, Doug and Nicole, Ann and Alfie, Terry, Vince and Denise, Ted, Charlie and Georgina, Mauricio and Carla, Dennis and Darlene, Eugene and Linda, Tom and Elaine, Chris and Heidi, Mike and Pam as well as a trusted friend and former instructor by the name of Larry Johnson plus a host of others that I cannot even begin to mention. Such friends are the gifts that keep on giving, and gifts such as these are treasures that last forever and ever.

All too often in the lives of so many of us, we allow ourselves to be unnecessarily tossed about here and there with various responsibilities. Those of us firmly anchored either in our faith or belief system with a good sense of direction or self-worth and a solid sense of where we're coming from know this and realize that in order to stay on track in the course of our lives, we need to stay true to those things that give us the strength from which we draw on a daily basis.

It has been these things in my life that have helped me the most over the last few years - faith, beliefs, sense of self-direction and a solid sense of self-worth and a relation to the divine if you will. These have been and are the gifts that keep on giving - not just now and throughout my life, but throughout eternity as well.

Granted, this has been more of a reflective column and not one of the political stripe that usually comes from this page, but such is good from time to time, for it helps to refine one's focus from time to time and to remember the things that truly do matter most. ***

Photo of Timothy Rollins courtesy of staff files
Photo of LuAnn and the author courtesy of personal files and used with permission