A Piece Of Solid Gold

Hello,

There is an old guy that used to live in our area that spent years in the rodeo business. He told me one time that after your rodeo career is over all you will have left is a bunch of old awards with dust on them, some old pictures, and your memories. He said the money will more than likely be all gone, but there will be one thing that will be more valuable than solid gold; the people that you meet on this journey and the things that you learn from them can change your life for the better if you apply the things you learn from them. That old man has passed on now, and as I start to near the end of this rodeo journey I have been on, I realize that he was right.

The wonderful people I have met have indeed enriched my life and I have tried to apply the good qualities.
I couldn’t write long enough to tell you about all the great people I have met, but I would like to tell you about a wonderful man that came into my life about 25 years ago. You would never have heard of him because of his roping victories, because that wasn’t one of his strong suits. He came to one of my roping schools and I taught him what I know, so I was responsible for his short comings, but he would have never said that. He would say that the instruction was wonderful, but because of his lack of time to devote to this sport was the reason he never became the champion roper that I wanted him to be. He was a businessman from Central California and was the most professional looking and acting person I have ever met. He has a handsome man, about 50 years old the first time we met and he was perfectly dressed. He always had on pressed pants, starched white shirts and his premature gray hair was perfect. He had been very successful in the water purification business and if you do the math you can see that in 1980 that was the very beginning of people paying attention to the importance of pure water. His business prospered and because of that he decided to pursue a dream of roping and riding and that is how I met him. The first roping school he ever came to he was limited to the amount of runs his body could take, because he had hurt his back years before in the Marine Corp, but he never complained. I only found out about it from someone else. Looking back now I believe he was the kindest, gentlest man I have ever met. At the end of everyday that I was with him he would always tell me what a wonderful job I had done and he would compliment every other student there. He made every person feel better about them selves and always would down play his own accomplishments. He treated every person as if they were the most important person on earth and it didn’t matter if it was the lowest man on the totem pole or the chairman of the board. People would flock to this guy as would I, because he made you feel better about yourself. Every time without exception after we were together he would write me a short note and send it through the mail telling me what a wonderful experience he had and that he was already looking forward to the next time we would rope together. When ever I won anything major he would send me a letter of congratulations and would say that it didn’t surprise him one bit, because I was a star. In one letter he told me that with my talent and with the great horses that I rode, that he was only surprised that the competition would still compete because realistically they didn’t stand a chance. At the end of each letter he wrote, he would always sign them the same way. They would say: As Always, I will remain, Max.
His name is Max Rouff and you probably don’t know him and I am sorry that you never got the chance to meet him, because he would have made you feel better about yourself and touched your life in some way. I hope that I have improved in that area because of my relationship with Max. I never heard him say a negative thing about one person and he would always find something positive to say about every person he came into contact with. In this life it is easy to become negative sometimes, but when I start to recognize that in myself I think about my friend Max Rouff and I try to raise myself to his level.
Max had quite roping several years ago because of back surgery; I didn’t see him or hear from him. I thought of him often, but because of my schedule and because I didn’t want to bother him, I didn’t call. About a year ago, out of the blue, I received a Max Rouff letter. In the letter he said that he just wanted to write to me and tell me what a special person I was and how much just knowing me had enriched his life. He thanked me for introducing him to team roping and how much he had enjoyed our sport and how special he thought the people were. The letter was wonderful and he thanked me for making his life better, and the closing read: As Always, I remain, Max. Because, I was busy I didn’t write back, I know that is a bad excuse but I didn’t. I thought that it was a little odd, because it was like Max was going away, but if you knew the man I thought he just decided to make my day, and he did.
Recently, I went to the Clovis, California rodeo and that is the town were Max had lived. I was fortunate enough to see his son and after a short visit I asked about his father. He said that his father has Alzheimer’s disease and some days were better than others, but there were times when he didn’t recognize anyone that he had known. I told his son about my letter and he smiled and nodded, but didn’t speak. Max had sent me a letter to say good bye, because he knew he was sick. Max never said one thing about his illness or anything about himself. He only talked about what a great guy I was. I find that to be one last unselfish gift from such a classy man. Because, of his illness he won’t be able to read or comprehend this article, but my life has been enriched by Max Rouff and so was everyone who came into contact with him. I only hope during my life I can make people feel better about themselves, not talk about myself and my strong points or my weaknesses. I will not see my friend again, because I want to remember him the way he was, so full of spirit and positive energy. But, I do give him my word that I will try to be more complimentary to all people, no matter what there lot in life may be and to try to find the positive in every person I meet. Thanks Max you are a piece of solid gold I have found on my journey and As Always, I will remain Walt.

Until Next Month,
Thanks for your time.

Walt Woodard