Inspiring people

Yesterday evening my husband and I watched the CMT movie Dale. It was more of a documentary than a movie. It was really good. Prior to the 'movie' there was a kind of 'countdown to green' to it with various country music stars, Brooks and Dunn, Charlie Daniels, Billy Ray Cyrus, and many more, commenting on Dale Earnhardt, his life, and his friendship. The also broke in portions of a Talladega race that he won in the final laps.

We watched the movie and I found it to be quite inspiring. I had never thought of Dale that way. I'm a fan of Mark Martin and my husband likes Jeff Gordon. I enjoyed seeing the clips from various races, all of the interviews, and the segments of Dale himself speaking about his life while he fished his pond.

At the end of the movie I felt the loss that many of his fans probably experienced. I felt very sorry for Dale Jr., his older brother Kerry, and his sister Kelly. They didn't get the family time that their youngest sister had. Dale Sr. had been building his career when the oldest kids were growing up; so much of his time was spent doing business.

There was a lot of mention alluded to Dale being a hero. Was he a hero? To many I'm sure he was. My take is that he was a down to earth guy with ambition. He did all he could to succeed. Even though he supported his family, ensured that there was a roof over everyone's head, and he wanted his kids to be around; family time seemed to be put on the back burner. I guess that bothers me.

I'm very family oriented. If I had to choose between success and family, family would win. That would be the only success I need. Perhaps that's the woman in me. Women are seemingly bred to sustain a family. Men support it. It could be that his first two wives couldn't handle that pressure.

If your interested in seeing the movie it airs again tonight on CMT, 8/7c. Perhaps you will find some inspiration in it as I did.