Heart Hope by Olga

Every summer in June and July kids from across the country converge in our area for the Vail Valley Lacrosse Shootout. There are games going on morning, noon and afternoon on every field from Vail to Edwards. Parents, friends and siblings cheer for their favorite teams. And there is a flurry of activity in grocery stores, the local Wal-Mart and especially restaurants. In our new Qdoba there was a group of handsome young men who were part of the Shootout. My husband Tom was seated outside when the boys exited the restaurant with their food. One of the lacrosse players was angry because Qdoba had run out of sour cream and was causing a ruckus, using foul language. My husband who was seated at a nearby table knew that I would not appreciate the language, so he politely walked over to their table and asked them to clean up their conversation when I came outside.  After a few minutes of being seated one of the players walked over to our table and apologized for the poor behavior of hi...

Last spring while walking in the beautiful Vail Valley I came across a group of students and their coach who had been practicing lacrosse at the community field and were on their way back to the high school field house. There were about 6 or 7 husky young men walking on the sidewalk and as I approached them, they made no effort to move to one side; instead they made me shift to the grass, so they could pass by. It took me back to the days of my youth when we were actually taught to respect people who were older than we were and imagine this—to even stand when they entered the room. Today, it seems that many people do not teach their children to respect--not teachers, community servants, our country, our laws, life, etc.  When children do not learn this at an early age, it is extremely difficult to learn it later in life. The coach missed a great opportunity to demonstrate manners to his players. Maybe that is why we have so many things in the news each day about teens that are do...