IN MEMORIAM: PRIVATE SERVICE & PUBLIC MOURNING

Meaningful, one life will be remembered today and another has departed from this earth. One man had the gift of love: for his family, friends, community, country. The other had the gift of love: for his family, friends, and the world.

My dear older friend, Goodwin Graham, viewed humanity as a member of “The Greatest Generation,” whereas Muhammad Ali viewed our global community with his lens as “The Greatest.” To some veterans, Ali attacking his country’s policies was considered unpatriotic, but I believe Mr. Graham admired Mr. Ali, the athlete, dispensing with the politics. And that will be Muhammad Ali’s legacy, providing the glue that has helped ameliorate the sports world so that everyone, no matter their race, creed or country of origin would have the right to participate in athletics.

 Is the sports system perfect, today? No, and neither were these men. However, Mr. Graham heralded the future by learning from the past. When I met him, his wife had been admitted to a nursing home due to dementia, yet “Gee,” as family and friends called him, rose above his sadness to welcome a new friend with warmth and graciousness. He treated me like family and we’d often share a drink, a laugh and a friendly rivalry (He, New England Patriots; I, New York Giants—don’t despair Cape Cod readers, I’ve shed my New York favoritism).  He may have seen me as an anomaly regarding my life choices but he never judged or patronized me because I saw the world through a different lens. Gee’s smile overcame any barrier because his heart was filled with love.

Once an athlete himself, Gee admired self-discipline, perseverance and inner strength. He shared his opinions without reservation, but preferred anonymity, a modest life beneath the radar. In contrast, Muhammad Ali shared similar attributes via a public platform.  His choice to use his voice before, during, and after his legendary career, came from necessity, not just a desire for the limelight. Having been surrounded by bigotry, marginalized, dismissed, unjustly disgraced for declaring himself as a consciousness objector during the Vietnam war, Mr. Ali fought his way to the top and kept on scrapping.

A veteran of the Pacific theater during World War II, gunners mate, Goodwin Graham also had a fighting spirit until his death at the age of 91 on April 6^th this year. Despite serious medical setbacks and conditions, he worked his garden, went fishing, enjoyed the company of his fellow vets and other peers, and never stopped keeping busy, until forced to during the last few years.

Mohammad Ali had been compelled to stop boxing due to, then undisclosed, Parkinson’s Disease. And yet the renowned advocate for racial equality, social justice; world peace, no matter the odds, never backpedaled his opinions. His rapid-fire oratory may have slowed, but he didn’t curtail his verbal punches.

Both men will be remembered today. Goodwin Graham by a small circle of friends, family with reverence for his past, joy for how he lived, and love for the man who touched those who knew him. Mohammad Ali’s life will be revered, celebrated, and admired as it had when he lived and will be after he died. For me, neither man will be forgotten.