The Beauty and the Mess

On Sunday, part of my childhood died, and I didn't even know it.

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) -- David Woodley, who started at quarterback for the Miami Dolphins in the 1983 Super Bowl, died Sunday. He was 44.

The cause of death had not been determined, brother Joe Woodley told The (Shreveport) Times.

David Woodley played four seasons in Miami, including the Dolphins' 27-17 loss to Washington in the Super Bowl. He also played one season in Pittsburgh.

Woodley finished third in Dolphins history with 5,928 career passing yards and 508 pass completions, behind Dan Marino and Bob Griese. He holds the Miami rookie record with 176 pass completions.

Woodley played at LSU from 1977-79, leading the Tigers to a 34-10 victory over Wake Forest in the 1979 Tangerine Bowl.

In 1990, Woodley moved back to Shreveport and pursued an information technology degree at LSU-Shreveport, where he worked in the physical education department. Woodley also was a radio commentator for high school football games last season.

David Woodley was my favorite football player of all time. When I was four years old, I would watch the Dolphins games with my dad, and cheer for him. I was crushed when he got traded to the Steelers. To this day, I'm a Steelers fan because of him. I don't know if he was a believer, but I hope he was. Maybe someday I'll get to watch him play a heavenly football game. In the meantime, I will miss him.

I just wanted to post and say thank you to dakoda and tingilya and nova_wylde for all the fun mail I've gotten recently! Thanks, guys! I feel very loved. :)

Last night I finished Where the Red Fern Grows. The ending was so sad that I actually had to sit for several minutes collecting myself before I could lay down and go to sleep. The only other book that's made me cry that much is Return of the King. Those are mainly happy tears, though. :)

Tonight I am going to Outback for a nice dinner with my sister and some of her friends from church. I'm looking forward to it.

I have already had too much sugar today, and am feeling the effects. I went home at lunch and ate a peanut butter sandwich just to balance my blood sugar. We're having cake in a while, though, so that'll probably throw me off again. It's kind of good that the sugary holidays are few and far between.

I bought a cute, round, plush pink strawberry for my sister. It has a little face and arms and legs and is very friendly-looking. I'll post a picture of it later.

I went to a wedding this weekend. I wish I hadn't. I was solidly in the "okay" zone before I went, but at some point I fell apart. I guess spending an entire weekend hearing people talk about marriage and dating and sex, and just having to hear a certain person talk *once* about marriage and sex, does a good job of driving horrible thoughts into your head until you are too miserable to run away from them.
I wish there were Presbyterian nuns. I wish I didn't have to be reminded constantly of the wonderful things I can never have. I wish everybody would just shut up.

You know that "boat" I was talking about the other day? Well, the land I saw was a very convincing mirage. In reality, the boat is in the middle of the ocean. And I think it's sinking, because it's never going to see land. I know the truth.
I don't care much now about going to summer conference, or really much of anything. I managed to get out of bed. I got dressed. I came to work. That's about all I can handle today.