Pete's Revised BLOG - Day 10.

Today is my 26,019th day of life. It is Sunday, March 18, 2012. It is another unusually nice day for the month of March.

Today I want to write about how a 71 year-old-guy and a 92 year-old-guy really brighten each other's days. I usually go to 8 am church and then go to coffee in the basement after the service. In the last year couple of years these two guys have had coffee together and have struck up quite a friendship. The 71-year-old is me and the 92-year-old is a retired farmer named Darvin Hardersen. We enjoy each other's company a lot.

Darvin has told me a lot about his 92 years and I find it very interesting. I've learned he is a former Golden Gloves boxer. In the early-to-mid 1940's he was approached by a couple of guys from Anamosa to try boxing and get involved in Golden Gloves. He said he had never boxed but decided to give it a try. He got his legs in shape by wearing five-buckle overshoes and running up and down hills out by his farm. When he did start working out above the city hall in Anamosa the local trainers had trouble finding boxing gloves to fit his monstrous hands. (He has the biggest hands I've ever seen.) He said most of his training above city hall was simply hitting a punching bag. Maybe his size (6' 4") and physical build scared all the other boxers and they didn't dare to spar with him. Anyway, when fight night came he beat some guys and that made him elgible to compete in the Cedar Rapids regional tournament. He beat one guy from Des Moines - he knocked the guy down but he kept getting up so Darwin kept hitting him - by the time the match ended Darvin had knocked him down 12 times. The second guy (from Cedar Rapids) he boxed was a tougher foe but Darvin beat him also, as a result, he got to go to Chicago to fight in the national tournament. Darvin had a tough foe in Chicago and that ended up being his one and only match. His opponent was in the navy and had had a lot of experience, in fact, he was so good he was expected to go pro. Darvin said he held his own but the referee stopped the fight in the second round because the other guy was a far superior boxer. I find his Golden Gloves story so fascinating and interesting. Here was this big raw-boned Iowa farmer, who had never boxed before, fighting on the national stage in Chicago. Even though he didn't win in Chicago it provided him with a great memory to cherish for the next 70 years. I think it brightens Darvin's day when he gets to talk about these great memories in his life - and it brightens my day just to have the privilege of listening to him talk about it and to see how much he enjoys doing so. I love to hear people tell about their life experiences, especially those who are older than me.

Tomorrow I'll write more about Darvin's experiences in life. They will be even more interesting than this one.