A Home for the beautiful

March 16, 2013

"Though we travel the world over to find beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not" Ralph Waldo Emerson

What is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen in your life? Was it the sunrise over the Grand Canyon, the moon at the end of the desert, a magnificent painting or maybe an eagle flying majestically in the sky.  If you are the parent of a handicapped (special needs) child it could be something as simple as them picking up a spoon or saying bugga bugga at a bag of hamburgers.

Once you have seen these things they can become part of a magnificent life. You can call recall them and maybe visit them again, possibly. These things of beauty can lead you to ever more beautiful experiences.

Today why not be on the watch for the beautiful things in life no matter how small or large.

I personally have had a lot of wonderful experiences in my own life and enjoy sharing them with people. As I grow older I seem to recognize more of these beautiful things and happenings. There have been plenty of bad times too, but those just make you appreciate the good times that much more, and as many would say "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

Sometimes something wonderful and beautiful comes from something tragic.

A few years back I met a wonderful lady named Ilse Boyette.  Ilse and I both had a few common interests. She was a cyclist, I am still cycling, She was a Nurse at the same hopsital where I work. We rode together in the Honey Bee Festival with Ilse's good friend Sharon.

On our bikes we rode through downtown Hahira Georgia, Ilse told me as we were riding along that my jersey made her homesick as it was the same colors as her homeland's flag. I asked what country that would be and she told me she was born and raised in Germany. Germany's flag is yellow, brown and black apparently, because that is the color of my jersey. Ilse was married to an American Soldier and had moved with him from Germany to  South Georgia. She was a nurse at Tift Regional Medical Center, loved nature and was just an outright joy to be around.

4 years ago Ilse joined Dr. Wagenhorst and several others to setup an annual charity bicycle ride called the Tour de Tifton.  The Tour de Tifton is a fund raising charity bicycle ride which benefits the Tiftarea YMCA.  Unfortunately Ilse was stricken with a type of Cancer and passed away last year. This year the TdT organizers decide to name the ride in her honor. The ride this year will be called the Tour de Tifton/Ilse Boyette Memorial Bike Ride and will be held on April 6, 2013 at the Tiftarea YMCA  Hunt Park Campus.  The money raised from past TdT events has all went to the YMCA programs, htis year it will be split between the YMCA and a Nursing Scholarship fund though Tift Regional Medical Center.

Losing Ilse was definitely a bad thing, everyone that knew her will miss her, but because of her and the way she lived there will be funds set aside for another nurse that may not have been ab;e to become a nurse without the funds set aside by that scholarship. Also because of Ilse and other like minded cyclists there has been funds helping the YMCA to provide services that may have had to be cut for the past 4 years. This may not be something that some would consider beautiful, but beauty is in the eyes of the eye of the beholder. Personally I think Bret, Ilse, Sharon and all the others associated with the Tour de Tifton are beautiful people and the world could learn lessons from their selflessness.

If you would like to join us for the Tour de Tifton/Ilse Boyette Memorial Bike Ride you can find out more by calling the Tiftarea YMCA at 229-391-9622 or go to the website at www.tiftareaymca.org There are rides of 11,25, 45, 62 and 100 miles.

I will be providing SAG for the Tour de Tifton again this year. I will riding around in my van trying to keep everyone safe and on the right route.

Have a great day

Jerry "The Bicycle Nut" Goodwin

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