A Tribute Well Deserved

The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land...

It is a simple verse from the King James version of The Holy Bible.  You can find it in the Song of Solomon, Chapter 2, verse 12.

It was with those simple words each spring that Ernie Harwell welcomed both spring and the boys of summer, the Detroit Tigers, back into my life.

I was nine years old when my love affair with the Tigers began.  My mother was a fan and we were out at our cabin without television, the radio would always be tuned to the Tigers game, long before I was nine, of course.

When I was nine, the Detroit Tigers became world champions and I heard... something on that radio that caught my attention.

I heard Ernie Harell. With his trademark phrases - "He stood there like the house by the side of the road" and "It's looonnnnggg gone!" and my favorite "A man from Flint will take that one home" - he brought an easy charm, an easy grace, and a perfection to the games that most broadcasters can only hope to reach. He would blend a lifetime of stories in with the actual call of the game seamlessly and you would come away not only knowing who'd won but more about the history and the players than when the broadcast had started.

I look back on my childhood now and Ernie Harwell is there.

He was the voice on the radio that would tell me everything was all right.

Now, at 91, this gentle, charming man has announced he has cancer. There will be no treatment. He may be with us for another year, perhaps not that much.

I know that he will face this with the same faith and courage he showed throughout his life. And he will teach us something about dignity, acceptance, and grace. He's that kind of man.

I've never met him but he is a member of my family. He is a much beloved member of my family and this news has already saddened me more than I can say.

I won't think of the future right now. I will simply think of the past, of those golden days of my childhood when Ernie was on the radio and all was right with my world.

Thank you, Ernie.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.