With all the news across the country this week I wanted to make sure that I took the time to write about a local loss that we suffered.
I have not written anything about the protests because I have nothing to add to all the stories we’ve seen and I’m not one of those writers who thinks the world is waiting to read MY thoughts. The killing of George Floyd was awful. All four officers should be charged. Not all police are bad. People have a right to protest. There is no need for looting and those that do it should be prosecuted. There.
What I want to make sure I don’t get too busy to note is the passing of Glenn Gardner. He was a friend of mine though we never had the chance to get too close. I regret that now.
It seems weird to call him by his first name because he was always “Mr.” Gardner, or “Gahd-nah!” to the kids on his teams. He touched the lives of so many students in our area. He taught or knew all four of my children. He was also the field hockey coach for Sarah and the softball coach for both Sarah and Kat.
Last week my wife was discussing Glenn’s passing with Kat when she said, “He was the only high school coach who believed in me.” I thought, “Wow! What a powerful statement and memory of a man.”
I got to know Glenn simply as one of my children’s teachers and coaches. However, one year when Kat was playing for him, I had gone to an early season scrimmage and afterwards he invited me to come to practice the next day if I wanted to help out. I had some experience coaching in the rec league in town and some Travel Ball so I agreed. I ended up spending the season either on the bench or coaching first base for the JV team. It really opened my eye to the work that these high school coaches put in. It’s one thing to coach a little league team where you may practice once or twice a week and have a game or two. It’s another thing to work two or three hours a day, six days a week. I would help to start things if he had a meeting or work with one unit while he focused on the needs of another. It was a fun season.
Talking with my children this week, Sarah remembered Mr. Gardner the teacher. He was the first to get her interested in current events. He would write the days headlines on the board and they would discuss them. She said he didn’t shy away from the violent stories of the day. He wouldn’t try to protect the class from them he would discuss them. She remembers the “DC Sniper Case” was big at the time. She also remembered his humorous side as he would play practical jokes on his fellow teacher, the late Michelle Gonsalves, all the time.
Sarah also remembered him as her coach saying he was awesome and “always made you feel like a star if you were on his team.”
In recent years I would see Glenn at the Rec Center in Fairhaven sometimes when I went to use the treadmill and he would always ask about the children. After that I only heard from him through occasional Facebook posts.
Like many people I was saddened to read that he was diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. I can’t imagine what he went through physically and it must have been devastating emotionally after being so active for years. In a way I’m glad he didn’t have to live with that disease for any longer than he did.
So rest in peace Mr. Gardner. I wish we could have spent more time together but I appreciate what we had. And I just want him to know that if he ever had one of those sleepless nights when he wondered if he did enough with his life —– just know that one student, who I’m sure speaks for many, said, “He was the only high school coach who believed in me.”
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