Make The Fresh Spaghetti Sauce

Where I read it I cannot recall, but the lesson remains indelible: “Make the fresh spaghetti sauce.”

The anecdote was about a woman unexpectedly, and far too prematurely, widowed. Months later, she was walking in a park with a friend and, among chitchat, asked about dinner plans.

The friend nonchalantly said her husband that very morning had mentioned a craving for her homemade spaghetti sauce. But the day had gotten away from her without going to the store for fresh tomatoes and she didn’t feel like stopping on the way home. Sauce from a jar would suffice.

The two friends continued their strolling visit for a while when, out of the blue, the widow said softly, but with weighted feeling: “Make the fresh spaghetti sauce.”

As she was picking out fresh tomatoes at the grocery shortly thereafter, the friend realized the widow was not really talking about a homemade dinner. The wisdom had been about making the little extra effort for someone you love, whenever you have the chance, because that special person could disappear from you life — by death suddenly, yes, but also simply growing up and moving away.

In other words, bake a cake even if it’s not their birthday; play a board game or go on a walk when you’d rather read; take them to a concert you wouldn’t choose.

This past weekend, I made the fresh spaghetti sauce for my 33-year-old son by taking him to his first NFL game. This may seem surprising given that I was a sports columnist for three decades and you would surely imagine I had taken my son to countless pro football games over the years. As the maxim has it, the cobbler’s children go barefoot.

Truth be told, my son and daughter were so busy, busy, busy with their own sports games and running races growing up that there just never seemed time to go to pro sporting events together.

Also at play, however, is that when they were in their early teens I was rear-ended by a speeding drunk driver at the 2003 Super Bowl in San Diego. Nerve damage in my neck and hand forced me to leave sports writing. In fact, that was the last NFL — or NBA or Major League Baseball — game I attended because I have had no desire to not sit in the press box and not have the rush of deadline pressure.

What changed Sunday? The Cleveland Browns, my beloved team since boyhood and still, were playing the L.A. Rams in SoFi Stadium and for his birthday gift my son, who likewise bleeds burnt orange, wanted to go.

While I have covered a handful of Super Bowls, even more NBA Finals and a few World Series, I dare say this regular-season game instantly ranks as my all-time favorite because of my companion. Despite being conditioned to “no cheering in the press box,” I became hoarse from yelling and high-fiving and chest bumping my son through the first three and a half excitingly close quarters…

…before the Browns showed their true colors by boinking a game-tying PAT kick off the upright and promptly fell apart in trademark fashion to get blown out.

A Browns’ victory would, naturally, have been wonderful. All the same, my son and I could not possibly have had a more masterpiece day. As dyed-in-the-wool Brownies fans, there is even a certain charm in a fourth-quarter meltdown.

Indeed, I am so glad I made the fresh spaghetti sauce — even if it figuratively wound up spilled all over our brand-new throwback No. 32 Jim Brown jerseys.

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Essay copyrights Woody Woodburn

Woody writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @woodywoodburn. His SIGNED books are available at www.WoodyWoodburn.com.

Final Tally of 2020 Ball Drive Is…

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Final Tally of 2020

Holiday Ball Drive Is . . .

“Beauty lives with kindness,” wrote Shakespeare, perfectly describing kind Star readers who made the holidays more beautiful for local disadvantaged kids by donating to “Woody’s Holiday Ball Drive” despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.

In the spirit of The Bellringer campaign, here are some more of the givers this year…

Kelly Lanier gave six assorted balls, noting: “Sports were so important to my two sons – they learned how to win and lose gracefully; learned the power of teamwork; made numerous friends; learned how to share; and, of course, got exercise. I want all children to have the same opportunities.”

Some of the record avalanche of gift balls for kids!

Jim Barrick gave opportunities to a dozen kids with 12 basketballs; Steve and Shelly Brown gave five basketballs; and Ric and Penny Ruffinelli donated four basketballs.

Nick Sarris gave 51 assorted balls and shared: “I reminisced about the treasured younger days of playing catch with my dad and brother and fast-forwarded to the days of playing catch with my daughter – these things should be a part of every kid’s life.”

Joe Kapp and his granddaughter, Kayden, teamed up to give six assorted balls while two dozen balls, one each in honor of their grandchildren, were donated anonymously by “Two Blessed Grandparents.”

Jim and Sandie Arthur donated three “happy faces” with basketballs and Steve and Bobbin Yarbrough gave one basketball.

Michael Olgy donated one football and one basketball “in honor of all senior athletes in Ventura who have worked so hard and show such courage during this lost 2020-2021 season.”

Duke Lyskin, my friend since middle school, gave three basketballs; Tom and Karyne Roweton donated two basketballs; and Joanne Abing passed in one basketball.

Rebecca Fox gave one soccer ball “in memory of Jim Cowan” and another 16 assorted balls were donated anonymously in Jim’s memory.

In memory of local coaching legend Bob Tuttle, five basketballs were donated by Gary Tuttle, Toni Tuttle Santana, Gayle Tuttle Camalich, Arlys Tuttle and Trudy Tuttle Arriaga while Steve and Tonya McFadden gave three balls “in loving memory of Coach Harold McFadden.

Brent Muth donated two basketballs in memory of Mike Sandoval and Gerry Carrauthers, and a third in honor of his parents George and Sharon Muth “for all their support of our youth teams growing up.”

Sheila and Tom McCollum gave four assorted balls and Janine Bundy donated five basketballs “in honor of my wonderful parents, John and Marilyn Bundy.”

Karen Brooks gave 16 assorted balls; Patrick Gallagher donated six balls; and Kate Larsen gave three “kids’ smiles.”

Draza Mrvichin gave an assortment of 11 balls; Tim and Cindy Hansen donated seven balls; and Lucie and Rick Estberg gave four balls.

A large team of family members and friends combined to donate 104 balls. The roster: Alma Rodriguez, Thomas Duran, Nancy and Rick Rodriguez, Connie and Andy Rodriguez, Carmen and Luis Rodriguez, Reina and Michael Rodriguez, Shaun Rodriguez and Ruth Garcia, Deb Rose, Pamela Wood, Lara and Phil Hruska, Claudia and Mike Nieves, Kellie and John Serna, Charlene and Phil Hobbs, Cathy and Mike Ord, Caren and Achilles Maresca, Rose and Jace Holland, Dave Robillard, Lane Reintjes, Maddie Kaufman and Will Moodie.

Lauren Siegel gave five basketballs and Stacy DeLeon’s youngest children, Marcus and Kristina, donated two basketballs.

Brad and Mia Ditto gave five assorted balls; the Tebbets family donated four balls; and Richard and Nancy Francis gave three balls.

Sharon Martin gave five basketballs in honor of “people who do Random Acts Of Kindness” and Stephanie Becerra and her boyfriend Robert Guizar did a RAOK by donating four basketballs.

Tennis legends and legendary role models Mike and Bob Bryan served up 25 assorted balls and Ian Eaton, a longtime Special Olympics competitor, and his parents Lance and Jean donated 15 balls.

Pam and Burt von Bieberstein gave eight balls with Burt sharing: “I remember the fun it was having a ball as a boy and playing for hours alone or with friends.”

The final tally for 2020 . . . drumroll, please . . . is a whopping 794 gift sports balls, crushing last year’s previous record of 551 children’s smiles!

Thank you, dear readers. Your kindness is unbelievably beautiful.

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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @woodywoodburn. His SIGNED books are available at www.WoodyWoodburn.com.

Personalized Signed copies of WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece” and  “Strawberries in Wintertime: Essays on Life, Love, and Laughter” are available at WoodyWoodburn.com