A kind and Encouraging Word

I respected him. He was not actually a close friend. He was just a guy I knew. He was 2 years older than I. It was the Summer of 1957. I was 14 years of age. Some guys from OTNC were at Kimball Park in National City. They were sitting on a little hill overlooking the National City Plunge. I knew all of them. One of them had played football at Sweetwater High School. His name was Pino. I started to talk to him because in September I was going to start my sophomore year at Sweetwater High School. I was planning to go out for the JV Football team. I was anxious about it, but I was also nervous. I really wanted to succeed. I approached the group and then started talking to Pino. I asked him about football. We discussed it a bit. I told him that I wanted to have a good season. He looked at me and said two words: "try hard." I have no idea why those two words inspired me and motivated me so much. For years and years I repeated them in my mind. I finally concluded that they were words of kindness and encouragement. I needed to hear them. They "hit the nail on the head," so to speak. It was not so much the literal aspect of the words that affected me. It was the spirit and the attitude with which they were said. He meant what he said, and he said what he meant, and more. It was a kind and encouraging word from a 16 or 17 year old. I never became a great football player, but I never quit. I played football for three years at Sweetwater High, and I have never forgotten Pino's words of encouragement. That was a long time ago.