January 15, 2025
Last week we talked about the early journey of my life and the difficulties I faced before the age of 9. Today we’ll continue this journey of perseverance and determination, along with two people who changed the course of my life forever.
At the ripe old age of seven, and with my Little League baseball career on hold due to an age issue, I truly struggled in school the entire first half of the school year. Then that Christmas in 1968 my aunt and uncle (Laverne and Loyd Graf Jr.) came to Rosenberg, Texas, and brought me to their home in Northeast Texas…Mt. Pleasant.
My aunt enrolled me in school there and I spent Christmas break and the entire spring and early summer trying to get caught up so I could finish out the first grade. I was also blessed to have a 1st grade teacher by the name of Mickey Sinclair who played a huge roll in me passing and moving on to the 2nd grade.
This was when my life began to change for the good. I passed the first grade and spent the entire summer of ’68 there with my aunt and uncle working and playing on their ranch. It was an awesome summer as I made new friends and met my best bud…. Kevin Owsley. We took swimming lessons and played on the same Pee Wee League team, the Yankees!
We had some great sleep overs and camping trips while becoming as close as brothers. I also learned how to fish and what it meant to do chores on our ranch. It really was the best summer of my life! It was also the beginning of my baseball playing career and it didn’t take me long to realize, this sport was going take me places. God had blessed me with athletic ability and a good throwing arm. Turns out, sports gave me a purpose in life and a sense of belonging.
At the end of the summer of ’68, my bio mom came and picked me up and took me back to Houston where I started the 2nd grade. I really missed my aunt and uncle, along with all my friends back in Mt. Pleasant. Once again, there I was at the age of 8 and back into the same bad environment, struggling in school, but this time my mom had moved us to Houston.
I was staying out till all hours of the night and running the streets of Houston while living in an apartment complex that did not have the best people living there. With so much freedom and mingling with thieves and drug dealers on a regular basis, bad temptations were a constant. I was actually smoking cigarettes and if you’re wondering, Marlboro was my choice of sticks. Now instead of just looking for food in the neighborhood, I’m also looking for smokes.
During my time in Houston, I always knew that the people I was hanging with were not held in high esteem. For some reason, (only God knows) I separated myself from them and tried to keep my distance. One thing that came out of this, was the fact that I became street wise at a very early age and learned how to read people pretty quick. No doubt that the Lord above was looking out for me at this time of my life as I was headed down the wrong road.
Failing the 2nd grade at Christmas…again… Aunt Laverne and Uncle Jr. drove to Houston and picked me up and took me back to Mt. Pleasant for good. Once again, I found myself doing extra schoolwork during the holidays and the following spring of ’69 to get caught up and pass the 2nd grade. But for me, my biggest joy was the fact that I was back with my friends and playing baseball once again for the Pee Wee League Yankees. By the way, the Yankees in two seasons under Coach James Stansell, were 24-0!!!
Then a day that's burned in my memory occurred. At the end of the summer of ’69, my bio mom showed up and was planning on taking me back to Houston. But my aunt and uncle stepped in and said “no” and felt it was better for me to stay with them permanently. So, I remember quite vividly the day my mom gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek and told me how much she loved me as I watched her with sadness in my heart, drive away for the last time. Even though I talked with her maybe a handful of times, I never saw her again until the day of her funeral.
To this day, I can’t imagine how hard this must have been for her, but looking back, she knew it was the best thing she could ever do for me. As a parent myself with three awesome kids, I cannot even fathom giving up any one of them for any reason! Sadly, my bio mom was just not capable of raising two boys on her own since she had already divorced for the second time. But for me, I finally had some consistency and direction in my life, and all was good!
Next week I’ll wrap up this incredible journey and give credit to the two people who made a commitment to a young boy and put him on the path to success. Till next time, good luck, good fishing and don’t forget your sunscreen.
Wrapping up an incredible journey
January 22, 2025
Today I’ll wrap up my life’s journey and how I have become the person I am today. While fishing and the outdoors have been a huge part of my life, sports have been my saving grace. It has all been due to great parents, teachers, and coaches that have had the greatest impact on my life.
Although my biological mother made a tough decision to walk away from me in the summer of ’69, it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. My life turned 180 degrees as my aunt and uncle made it official in 1970 by adopting me.
A year or two before adopting me, they decided to adopt a child from birth and named him Chad, who was 6 or 7 years younger than me. Now this young boy was super smart, funny with a great personality who never met a stranger. Was class president and class favorite throughout his entire junior and senior high years. He was a good athlete, a team player, and very mechanical minded who could fix anything.
As I stated earlier, I had a younger stepbrother (Kenny) who I have lost contact with but did very well for himself as he graduated from Texas A&M and became a navy captain on a nuclear submarine. Last time I heard, Kenny was working for Texas Instruments out of Dallas. Hats off to my bio mom as she decided to raise Kenny herself and it appears she did a pretty good job. After her second divorce, she finally found a good man in her third husband (Bill) who gave Kenny some direction and discipline being a former military man himself.
Now according to my aunt, who I later would call mom, it turns out that it took me a little while to adjust and eel secure, as I still hid food under my bed for about a year. Based off what a phycologist told her, this was considered normal behavior because I was still in survival mode. This would eventually stop as I became confident that I was going to be taken care of.
There was another obstacle I had to overcome early with my education. I was diagnosed with Dyslexia going into the 2nd grade. Every day for both the 2nd and 3rd grade years, I would leave my mainstream class during the English period and go to Mrs. Carpenter’s classroom as she slowly turned me around with my ability to read. I owe a lot to Mrs. Carpenter who did an outstanding job of getting me on the right path.
My Junior High years offered a different kind of challenge especially athletically as the skinny bean poll kid, which is a perfect description of me at that time, went out for 7th grade football. I was so skinny that extra small pants were loose on me. I was still a good athlete but did not have any lead in my britches so to speak. As good as I was at baseball did not translate to being that good at football initially as I started the season as a third team running back. Not first or second string….. third string!
But by the end of my 8th grade year, I had moved up to second string. Then as I got to high school in the 9thgrade, I was moved to starting quarterback and never looked back as my body started to fill out and with great coaching, my confidence soared.
But the one thing I was never lacking, was confidence on a baseball field. This is the one area of my life that I always felt I was as good as anyone who stepped on the field. After a great Little League and Dixie Youth experience, I was ready for high school and the best four years of my life!
My high school (Mt. Pleasant) had the reputation as one of the top programs in Texas. The 1970’s were some glorious times for the Mt. Pleasant Tiger Athletic Program in all sports. During this period, Mt. Pleasant was the winningest all-around program in the state of Texas, only behind Odessa Permian which many of you know from the movie, “Friday Night Lights.” It did not matter what sport; the MP Tigers were a state contender in all sports throughout the ‘70’s.
Then during my junior year in the spring of 1978, it all came together for a group of guys who had grown up together playing baseball. After a couple of disappointing finishes from the previous two seasons, we finally got the job done going 26-4 and winning the ’78 Class 3A State Baseball Title. Mt. Pleasant’s first state championship in any sport!
Then came my senior year, which was a year of highs and lows, as the ’78 football season would be a true trial and tribulation for me mentally and physically as we struggled the entire season with a new coaching staff. To this day, I still have mixed emotions about that year as it was probably the most difficult season I would ever endure as an athlete.
Compounding a difficult football season, I lost my best friend Kevin Owsley. He was a brother from another mother for me and we shared some good times together growing up playing ball, hunting and fishing. Kevin was one of those people everyone liked due to his infectious personality. He was also our starting second baseman on our defending state championship baseball team and losing him really put a huge damper on our attempt to repeat as we came up one game short of a trip back to the state tournament in Austin.
But there was one great thing that came out of my senior year, an offer to play in college on the division one level. While I had several division 1 offers, it wasn’t until a coach by the name of Al Miller (former NFL strength coach for the Denver Broncos and the Atlanta Falcons) came to my house and made an offer to continue my athletic career and education at Northwestern State University.
Located in Natchitoches, Louisiana, committing to NSU turned out to be the best decision I ever made. This is where I met my wife of 43 years, Sherrie. We have celebrated life together and raised three awesome kids Brittany, Meredith and Brandon. I cannot imagine where I would be today had I not gone to NSU.
After graduating from NSU with a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Technology/Engineering, I was blessed with the opportunity to play baseball on the next level after being drafted in 1983 by the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals). Playing in the Expos minor league system and trying to reach the major league level was truly a great experience and one I am thankful for.
The friends I have made through my college experience is priceless. I had the privilege to play with some of the greatest to ever wear an NSU Demon uniform, several that went on to play in the NFL with great success. The level of talent at NSU during the late ‘70’s and early ‘80’s was incredible!
In 2009, I had the greatest honor you can receive from your alma mater, being inducted into the Northwestern State N-Club Hall of Fame as a two-sport athlete and in 2023 going into the Mt. Pleasant High School Hall of Fame.
The good Lord has blessed me in so many ways I’ve lost count. The early years of my life were merely a test of my determination and perseverance. I’m a true believer in the words, “God had a plan.” Over my lifetime, so many families, friends, teammates, coaches and teachers have had an impact on my life that I cannot even begin to list them all.
Most of them know who they are and all I can say is “thank you.” Thank you for believing in a young boy who had all kinds of issues and challenges he had to overcome to achieve success. Without each of you, none of it would have been possible.
If you haven’t already done so, make sure to thank those that have impacted your life before they are no longer with us. Next week we’ll get back to more stories and experiences of the great outdoors as tournament fishing season is upon us. Till next time, good luck, good fishing and when in doubt…. set the hook!
Contact Steve at sgraf26@yahoo.com
