Give to the world
Dear Reader,
Wisconsinites pride themselves on
their hospitality, kindness, and their
Midwestern values, and raise
their children to reflect as such.
Team sports are one instance in
which parents have warranted
a way for their children to have
the opportunity to get out of
themselves, and understand
that the whole is greater than
the sum of its parts. The effort,
collaboration, and willful spirit needed in
joining forces to capture a victory is just
a foretaste of what lies ahead in the complexities
of starting a business, winning
in the workplace, or raising a family.
Yet, growing up as a teenager in this
modern day is counter intuitive to this
mission. Teens are saturated with selfinterest
in the form of posts, pics, snaps,
or selfies displaying their best days, worst
days, and mundane days, everyday; leaving
little room for the thought of others,
much less special human interests stories
like the one I am about to tell you. Every
once in while we find in our teens, a charity
and kindness that well, warms the
heart.
My nephew, Godchild, and namesake
Patrick, affectionately known as Paddy,
was recently traded to the Madison Capitals,
a USHL team; playing in a league
filled with NHL hopefuls. While my wish
for him to become a Green Bay Gambler
quickly fleeted, his proximity gives me
the feasibility to catch a game before the
season’s end.
All USHL teams require their players
to give back to the community with activities
such reading to children, packaging
food at local food pantries, and one I
recently discovered, auctioning off player
jerseys for a charitable cause. The Madison
Capitols recently teamed up with
Northwestern Mutual, Alex’s Lemonade
Stand, and the UW Children’s Hospital
for an Alex’s Frozen Lemonade Classic.
What endeared this auction even more
than the unique yellow jerseys adorned in
lemons and the likes was the addition of a
helmet, decorated by a pediatric patient.
Paddy’s jersey, #14, accompanied a color-
fully decorated helmet with a Lilo and
Stitch sticker affxed to the side.
These young “artist-patients” had the
opportunity to meet with their
“player-recipient” prior to the
game for a brief exchange.
Paddy met Aubrey, a bubbly
young girl with a beautiful
smile, and left their meeting
with these parting words: “I’m
going to score a goal for you
tonight Aubrey.” He mentioned
this with sincerity, but without thought,
since he had not scored for the Madison
Capitals, to date. Upon game time, the
artist-patients headed to their VIP seating,
sitting directly behind the player box.
Sure enough in the 2nd period with 12:50
to go, Paddy delivered on his promise,
shooting a laser right between the pipes,
putting the Caps on the board and scoring
his first Madison Capital goal!
The opportunity to snap a pic for a
post to highlight one of those “best days,”
diminished quickly. While Paddy fulfilled
his promise to his special friend Aubrey,
his sense of duty did not stop there. As
most teens would want to display their
“black biscuit” prominently upon a
hallowed shelf, Paddy, upon receiving
that very puck he rocketed into the net
minutes prior, turned around, looked for
Aubrey and finding her in the stands,
handed her the fruits of his promise saying,
“This is yours.”
That day, this teenager demonstrated
the meaning behind the words that little
known 20th century author Madeline
Bridges once wrote; “Give to the world
the best you have and the best will come
back to you.” A motto not just for Paddy
to embrace now, but an ethos I am certain
he will practice in the future. A lesson
that kindness and charity towards others,
well, is the real goal.
Footnote: If you are wondering who
had the winning bid for Paddy’s jersey
and helmet, it was his Godfather. It will
serve as a memento, and as a reminder of
a great goal, and a lesson to practice.