My dad once told me that there are two types of people in the world. There are those who kick the $#!% out of life and those who let life kick the $#!% out of them.

You have to decide if you’re a kicker or a kickee!

The kickers are those who see life as an adventure, dripping with challenges.

The challenges themselves come in two forms. Those which other people and life circumstances place before us and those which we seek. Each calling upon varying degrees of intestinal fortitude which each of us must seek, find and implement.

The kickee, on the other hand, will choose to sit among their own illusion of security. They will never dare themselves, never take a risk and sadly maybe never realize that their security will steal from the essence of life itself!

Yesterday marked the 101st anniversary of the debut of this 19 year old Red Sox southpaw.

A kicker for sure, Babe Ruth overcame a myriad of challenges as a kid to become the greatest and most beloved baseball player in the history of the world.

Five score plus one to the day, this 22 year old southpaw took the hill against the Yankees in his team’s biggest game of the year.

                                                             Eduardo Rodriquez, a kicker

After surrendering a first inning solo home run to Alex Rodriquez (thankfully no relation); he shut New York down; scattering 4 more hits while going 6 1/3 innings. His team rallied behind him winning 5-3 and setting up today’s biggest game of the year.

Speaking of kickers, anyone remember this guy?

                                                  Myles Standish

Myles was a passenger on the Mayflower, you may recall that 100 foot ship that left England almost 400 years ago. Aboard were Myles, his wife and 130 of their closest friends and crew. Now keep in mind this was no Carnival Cruise to Cancun. There were no reservations booked, no guy waiting at the dock with a placard that read Standish Family. Nope; their destination was um, ah, oh that’s right, the New World.

Oh and their were no bathrooms, buckets did the trick. Sounds like a boatload of kickers to me!

           Mayflower II in Plymouth Harbor.

Yesterday the energies of Babe and Eduardo, and Myles merged in the lives of folks near and dear to me. And it did so in Myles’ old stomping grounds of Duxbury Massachusetts.

Among Myles’ many duties was the protectorate of Plymouth Colony. Known for a fiery temper, he was also known to exhibit calm in crisis and he worked very closely with Governor William Bradford in the nascent years of Plymouth Massachusetts. So revered was he that a full 200 years after his death, the good people of Duxbury constructed a monument to him.

                                                  Myles Standish Monument.

This granite edifice stands 116 feet high (roughly 10 stories) and inside you can climb 125 steps up a spiral staircase to the top. It’s a tad unkempt inside, I’m sad to say because I don’t think too many people care too much about such things these days. But that just becomes another obstacle to overcome.

Enter these three…..

                                    Addy, Quinn and Reagan, my three granddaughters!

A “mystery ride” brought us here Saturday afternoon. But first a true confession; Papa (me) has a bit of difficulty with a couple of things, heights and edges. It dawned on me that these two minor obstacles would come into play during this excursion. So before I went to pick up the girls, I swung by to say hello to old Myles and take on the challenge.

This greeted me at the foot of the stairs.

I began the journey skyward and I must say I can’t confirm the exact number of steps but battling through all the physical sensations heights and edges bring to me I made it up and down…..It was time to get the girls.

We arrived and the girls didn’t take the stairs up to the monument entrance, they chose the grass hill climb instead and then we were there! Reagan and Addy charged ahead while Papa and Quinn trailed. Reagan announced every time she passed a window and Addy kept checking back with Papa and Quinn whose every step Papa was closely guarding; all the while disguising my hoverability factor (is that even a word?)

WE MADE IT!!!!! And as we circled the apex Addy said “Papa you look dizzy.” Smart girl that one! The reward was spectacular!!!!

Duxbury Beach on one side…….

Duxbury Harbor (low tide) on the other…..WE WERE KICKERS!!!!!!!

And if I might offer an observation. There was not an ounce of fear or trepidation in one step that each of the girls took. NOT EVEN A TINY LITTLE BIT!!!!

But we were not done. Upon decent the girls had another thought in mind…

Of course the girls wanted to know all about Myles so we googled him up and learned all about him. And then it was off to pay our respects…..

The Myles Standish Burial Grounds is the oldest continually maintained cemetery in the country.

But there was still more!

A short trip to the other side of this wonderful little town, a nature walk and voila!!!

There was old Myles again…….

Looking right over our shoulder……The girls got a kick out of that!!!!!

The day came to an end here; where a gathering of family celebrated the upcoming wedding of Danni and Jarrett.

This is a true collection of kickers and it emanates an energy that is palpable and inspiring to be around. We sat crowded in the greatest room in the world. We chatted, we laughed, we remembered and we loved. All the while looking down on us was the Red Sox battling the Yankees. It’s summer isn’t it?

There is a moral in this story…..And the moral is simple. Do not let the creature comforts which, we all love, make you a prisoner. Do not allow them to make you so comfortable that the challenges of life paralyze you! Do not let them steal from you the adventure that is this thing we call life!

Today Big Bro and I will head into Fenway! It’s been a while since the two of us went to Fenway together and a while longer since it was the biggest game of the year.

Let’s kick it!

Myles will be watching!

And so it is on this day in Fenway Park history; July 12, 2015