You have undoubtedly heard the sad news that Twins great Harmon Killebrew has entered hospice care. We were particularly struck by the grace that accompanied the statement released on his behalf. It ends like this: "I am comforted by the fact that I am surrounded by my family and friends. I thank you for the outpouring of concern, prayers and encouragement that you have shown me. I look forward to spending my final days in comfort and peace with Nita by my side."
Simple. Elegant. With an element of fearlessness. We should all be so lucky to feel that way when the time comes.
For the time being, we will share a brief Harmon memory. It was November 2006, and Killebrew -- then 70, now 74 -- was at a traveling baseball Hall of Fame exhibit in St. Paul. We were writing a story about it, and we weren't quite sure how to approach Killebrew. As was his custom, though, he couldn't have been more gracious in talking about the exhibit, what the Hall of Fame meant to him and about baseball in general. We only used one quote from him in our story, but it went like this:
"It's hard to really talk about the overall history of this country without talking about baseball."
Just like it's hard ot really talk about the overall history of the Twins without talking about Harmon.
