Living United in the Commonwealth

A winter, Friday night in any town is always a good setting for high school basketball.  Last Friday in Lexington was no exception.  My family and I had the opportunity to attend the big game between the home team Cotting School Falcons and the team from EMARC (an organization to support children and adults with developmental disabilities).

Cotting has been serving children with severe handicap and special needs since 1893.  It’s basketball tradition goes back a long ways too, and this game was the time to celebrate something really special.  Ray Killian, a board member of Cotting was being recognized for 50 years of service to Cotting. As board member, teacher, coach and friend, Ray has been there for kids and their families (I, too, am a Cotting board
member.)

This game had all the makings of a contest; cheerleaders and fans, players making steals and baskets.  It also had walkers and wheelchairs and ventilators.  For kids who don’t always have an even playing field in life—this basketball game was a moment to shine, to even up the score.

Although United Way has no direct relation with the Cotting school or with EMARC, it struck me how, at a bigger level, our organizations and many others are all about something very important.  That is, how do we come together to give others an opportunity to be successful.  Everyone defines success for themselves; the kids at the game knew not everyone was a scorer, but everybody had a role: passing, cheering or keeping the time clock

Our president and our governor have set a vision for our future that is based on mutual interests and collective effort. To make that vision real, we’ll each need to find our roles.  In doing so, we need resist the temptation of characterizing our “day jobs” as those roles. 

Ray was honored at the Cotting game, not for individual goals met, but because he recognized, throughout a lifetime of service, that we each have a role to play in making the Commonwealth a better place and a responsibility to ensure that all children, including the kids at Cotting and EMARC, are part of that vision.

The game went back and forth with Cotting finally pulling away in the last few minutes.  But just like many times before, thanks to people like Ray Killian, there were winners but no losers.