Recently I mentioned that my father was one of those people who appreciated a book or movie recommendation. He was quiet about it, but he would actually take the time to enjoy the things suggested to him. (Maybe it was out of parental/grandparental obligation!) Dad could be plenty stubborn on the surface, but in his own time, he was wise enough to welcome suggestions from those he knew and cared about. In a time when humans constantly hunt for the next piece of information before mastering what they already hold, it was nice to see someone with a healthy attention span, undistracted by the next shiny object. He could see possibility already in front of him.
A couple years ago I asked dad for his venison sausage recipe, knowing our time together was limited, and it being one of his specialties. He replied to my request by emailing the recipe at 0700 the following morning. I was not surprised by his promptness. After dad passed away, we were gathering special mementos for the memorial table at the funeral home, when my sister pulled the above book from the shelf. It is signed by the entire softball team that he coached. Dad started coaching one of our town teams shortly after I began playing at age 9 or 10. He continued coaching for several years, even after I aged out of the program, maintaining a historic undefeated record for the length of his tenure. He was known as a quiet coach, never shouting from the sidelines, and his players were always having a good time. When asked how his team could be so good, repeatedly winning while he quietly coached from the bench, he replied, "My players work hard during practice, game time is for putting what we've learned into action and having fun."
That venison sausage recipe, the one he typed into an email for me (and was careful to say it was not his own recipe, but was the one he made every year that we all love), is in this book. Of course it is. With a hand written notation adjusting the salt amount, just as he instructed in his email. His team thought this book the perfect gift for their coach, and he showed his appreciation by putting it to good use for the rest of his life. That's just how he was. Now that the book lives here, I'll take my cue from him, and hope to do the same.