The man largely responsible for the dominant force that is Tiger Woods has passed away. Earl Woods, Tiger’s dad… has been having major health problems for the last few years. Earl Woods succumbed to cancer this afternoon, a cancer he’d been battling for 8 years.
This is not a man who is lacking in contributions to the world. Anything Tiger does, particularly off the course, owes quite a bit to Earl Woods and how he chose to raise his son.
An excellent read on Earl Woods here, from Golf Digest. Condolences.
Rob
Excellent photo.
RIP.
May 3, 2006 at 3:28 pm
DookieStyle
Rest in peace, Earl.
May 3, 2006 at 6:14 pm
special k
that photo just brought tears to my eyes.
May 3, 2006 at 6:14 pm
Brandon
Condolences to Tiger and his family.
Earl played baseball at Kansas State with the father of a close friend of mine and was, by his accounts, a great guy and a pretty good baseball player. RIP.
May 3, 2006 at 8:49 pm
wom
I’m a huge Tiger fan and this is big. May Earl rest in peace and I’m sorry for his loss. His dad pushed him to be the great golfer and person Tiger is today.
May 3, 2006 at 9:54 pm
Old School
I don’t know what it is about that photo…the sleepy, scrunched little baby face, the obvious comfort of the baby resting on papa’s plush belly, the odd calm of a dad just lying still so his baby can sleep comfortably on him (I did this with both of my kids), or it could be the simple “homey-ness” of the shot–non-descipt wall, postum-colored sofa and the plain, old typicalness of a dad bonding with his new baby.
I dunno which one it it. All I know is that when I saw it, my eyes welled up. I sent a link to my mom, my friend Sherry. my sister, my buddy Mike and my brother.
Every one of ‘em either e-mailed me back or called to say how it moved them. Wet their eyes or made ‘em cry.
My brother said to me over the phone, “Wow.”
My mom said, “You can’t help but wonder, what’s on Earl’s mind in that picture. Is he saying, “Man, a baby. Sigh! What have I got here? Funny lookin’ little thing. Sure hope he don’t mess up. Just stay healthy, baby…hope I can raise you right.”
And then I thought of what Earl Woods must have thought when he saw that picture over the last seven years or so.
“Wow. Look at him now. I can’t believe I was thinking about how nasty my shirt felt that day with that boy drooling all over it.” (Because that’s the kind of idle thought that goes through a dad’s head in a benign moment like that.) “But lord I loved that little drooling monster.”
You can see the love there. In daddy’s stillness and in baby’s total relaxation. The love’s really all it ever needs to be about, ain’t it?
I’m misty eyed looking at the pic again, now.
Thanks you for posting it–it’s the simplest and most powerful tribute I’ve seen.
Best,
Old School
May 4, 2006 at 9:13 pm