Tupa: What do Lawrence Welk, Roberto Clemente teach us about dreams?

There are some incredibly inspiring stories in the realm of sports, and other realms of accomplishment, about people who helped make their dreams come true with incredible resolve, will power and sacrifice.

One non-sports example that readily flits to mind is the great band leader/showman Lawrence Welk.

Welk grew up in North Dakota, the son of German emigrants who settled in a community with other German immigrants.

Welk seemed destined to be a farmer, especially after he had to leave school to help his dad.

But, he had a dream to follow a career in music.

One acquaintance recalled hearing the story of how Welk used to prop up implements, such as rakes, hoes, pitchforks, and so on, and pretend they were parts of an orchestra that he led.

I’d thought about that sight — this young farmhand with little education, with a very limited English vocabulary or experience outside the rural community yearning so badly to fulfill what seemed such a long shot.

He asked his dad to buy him an accordion, in exchange for his promise he would say on the farm until his 21st birthday.

One day he turned 21, he walked off the family farm — with his accordion in hand — in search of a job with a band or performing in night clubs, radio stations or whoever else might hire him.

With this modest start, he began to make a living and then put together a band.

The rest is history. He formed one of the great traveling bands in the country, moved to Los Angeles and — at the age of 52 — began a weekly television show. The show instantly resonated with an audience that included a multi-generational audience. The show lasted for 27 years — and reruns, among which I’m one of the viewers, continue more than 65 years later.

I think about Roberto Clemente. He grew up in abject poverty in Puerto Rico. He lived in a neighborhood where a real baseball or real baseball equipment were considered unobtainable luxuries.

Yet, he dreamed of playing pro baseball. With the support of an unselfish mentor and friend, Clemente developed his skills and earned a contract in the mid-1950s with the Pittsburgh Pirates — about the same time, incidentally, as the Lawrence Welk TV show started.

Clemente honed himself into one of the greatest right fielders in Major League history, legendary for his ability to throw runners out trying to advance on deep hits or fly balls.

He also made league hitting history as the first batter who, after six full years in the bigs, raised his career average to more than .300.

Clemente’s exploits and achievements are legendary, his death a martyrdom for humanity.

I consider Jim Abbott, a one-handed athlete (he was born without a right hand), who went on to pitch 11 years in the major leagues.

Can you imagine what the coaches thought initially when this one-handed boy came out to play youth baseball?

But, he found a way to maximize his assets and prove limitations can be mostly a product of the mind and not of the physical essence.

We have a lot of great examples of dreamers and warriors that overcame obstacles on their climb to the top of the mountain.

But, what about those whose dreams don’t come true, despite their best efforts?

Sometimes their greatest hopes and motivations fall short because of uncontrollable circumstances, such as injury or timing, sometimes because the opportunity disappears, sometimes because of pure bad luck, sometimes because of other priorities or sometimes because of a lack of fortitude at a crucial moment.

Whatever the reason, many people fall in this category.

I’m one of them. I always dreamed of having a family, of having a boy, or girl, to throw catch with, to pass on family values and traditions, to watch spread their wings and find a place to nest and use their talents to bless the world around them.

It hasn’t happened and likely isn’t going to, at least not in this life.

I think of my friend Greg, now deceased, who at age 15 became a quadriplegic during a high school wrestling match in northern California.

All of a sudden, when his friends were going out on summer days walking around town, he had to sit home in his wheelchair.

I remember once taking him to a movie, lifting him out of the chair onto the car seat, folding up the wheelchair to put in the trunk, and repeating the process in going home.

But, through it all, Greg remained happy with life. He didn’t reflect on what he had lost — he focused on what he had left, on what he could do.

I remember seeing his dad push him around the track during football practice so he could support his friends. He agreed to become the public announcer at an annual wrestling tournament created in his honor.

Greg went on to earn a couple of college degrees, obtain a car through state funding and deal with some very difficult challenges that had nothing to do with his injury.

He lived for about 25 years following his accident and never walked again — but he also never lied down gave up on life.

I don’t have all the answers on how to deal with dreams unrealized.

I only know you’ve got to try to do the best with what you got.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: TupaTalk: You have to do the best with what you have