Fridays with Mac: "Alice, Rest Easy."

What makes a great football coach? Teacher? Mentor? Leader of others? In trying to answer my own question, one of William Paul McCartney’s greatest attributes raises its beautiful head: Intuition. The only coach to ever lead the Buffs to a national title believes his spiritual gift is “Exhortation.” The 81-year-old is correct. He can certainly, his words, “Rally and motivate.” For examples, see Colorado football and Promise Keepers.

But there’s another amazing gift the golf fanatic possesses in abundance: fine-tuned intuition. A keen knack for sensing human suffering. Long ago, as the “Buff Guy” for CBSDenver, and deeply embedded in the CU football program, this aging knucklehead personally experienced McCartney’s talent at spotting another human being going through a rough patch.?

I’ve mentioned this before but it bears repeating considering this essay’s theme. Reeling from the surprise of unexpected divorce I tried to hide my misery. However, the Hall of Fame coach noticed my weight loss, gaunt look and diminished spirit the minute a Channel 4 photographer and I wandered into his office for an interview before the ’94 season. It was a difficult season of life. Marriage crumbling, five-year-old son wondering what’s going on and trying to lean not on my own understanding because divorce meant little sense. Sudden and shocking. However, McCartney’s intuitiveness identified a downtrodden man. Each week Coach Mac lifted my spirits with a hand-written note imploring, “Hang in there and keep the faith!”

Those memories came flooding back recently while sitting at a McDonald’s in a northwest Denver suburb. The coach was coaching another wounded duck, our buddy Abe Trujillo. The 42-year-old superstar of A Stronger Cord is mourning the death of his beloved mother. Alice Trujillo passed away in early March at 77. As the three of us sat and visited, Abe and I were sharing with Mac about Alice’s funeral service the day before. Family, friends and associates came together to pay their last respects to a wonderful woman who lived a tough life.

Attendees learned Alice grew up in a migrant family that split time between southeastern Colorado and west Texas. Working the fields, picking the crops and enduring a nomadic existence. Literally, back breaking work. Often, it leads to, in Alice’s case, serious health issues.?I was blessed to know Alice the past few years and visited her after surgeries for spine issues and other remnants of laborious labor. The officiant talked about the “sacrifice” Alice and her entire family made in the fields of migrant living. It ain’t easy.

Mac was taking this all in and looking right at our wounded comrade. “Abe,” the coach stated with love, purpose and encouragement, “Your momma’s looking down on you right now and cheering you on. You are tender-hearted, smart and full of potential. Make your momma proud with how you carry on!”

For those scoring at home, obviously, the coach who retired almost 30 years ago is still coaching. Promoting perseverance. It’s in Mac’s DNA. My “Right-Hand Man” in A Stronger Cord’s efforts to lessen the impact of homelessness had been pretty quiet to this point. Finally, Abe offered a sincere, “Thanks Coach.”

McCartney wasn’t done with the pep talk. “Abester, you gotta encourage your dad. He’s going through a tough time right now too. Look for ways to compliment him on things he’s doing well!”?I then grabbed the program from Alice’s service and shared a poem from it. This beautiful prose is called: “We Little Knew.”

We little new that morning,

God was going to call your name,

In life we loved you dearly,

In death we do the same.

It broke our hearts to lose you,

You did not go alone,

For part of us went with you,

The day God called you home.

You left us beautiful memories,

Your love is still our guide,

And though we cannot see you,

You are always by our side.

Our family chain is broken,

And nothing seems the same,

But as God calls us one by one,

The chain will link again.

Alice, rest easy sister. A Hall of Fame exhorter, Billy Mac from Hackensack, has your cherished son’s back!