Something Surpassingly Wonderful: The Finest 4 Minutes of Your Internet Week

John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach. He was a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player (inducted in 1961) and as a coach (inducted in 1973). He was the first person ever enshrined in both categories.

HT:

His wife died twenty-five years before him, on March 21, 1985. Before his own death, Coach Wooden would honor his wife’s memory by writing her a monthly love letter on the twenty-first day of each month—300 love letters. -- The 300 Love Letters » First Thoughts | A First Things Blog

The poem Wooden recites from memory is "Yonder." It was written for him by one of his former players, Swen Nater:

Once I was afraid of dying.
Terrified of ever-lying.
Petrified of leaving family, home and friends.
Thoughts of absence from my dear ones,
Drew a melancholy tear once.
And a lonely, dreadful fear of when life ends.

But those days are long behind me;
Fear of leaving does not bind me.
And departure does not host a single care.
Peace does comfort as I ponder,
A reunion in the Yonder,
With my dearest who is waiting for me there.

Posted by Vanderleun at June 22, 2010 10:30 AM