[Chron.com]Stuart Holden on Fathers day

ferrari77 · Jun 21, 2009

Awesome article on stu and this Fathers day for him.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/soc/6490190.html

His dad’s funeral was supposed to be a celebration of life, so on this Father’s Day of pain and emptiness, Dynamo midfielder Stuart Holden would like you to know the man he knew.“He was my best friend,” he said. “It’s such a cliché, but if I could be half the man he was, I will have lived a good life. He always put his family first no matter what.”

His father, Brian Holden, died the day after Valentine’s Day after a six-year fight against the ravages of pancreatic cancer. He was buried on his 56th birthday.

Stuart Holden is still figuring out how to fill the hole in his heart. After games, he picks up his cell phone and thinks of those talks with his dad.

“Now I’m like, ‘Who do I call?’ ” he said.

He thinks of that silly photo of his father in a kilt at the family’s annual Scottish ball and the one in which he dressed up like James Bond on New Year’s. He thinks of that amazing day in Beijing last summer.

“The story kills me every time I hear my mom tell it,” Stuart said. “My parents were lucky enough to go to Beijing. I scored a goal, and they did a double-take and looked at each other. It was like in a movie where there’s silence. Then they jumped up and down screaming and going crazy. That was one of the coolest stories to hear.”
Family man to the max

There’s another sweet story that’s harder to get through. That was when Stuart fulfilled a promise to use his first professional soccer paycheck to help pay for his dad’s treatment.

“I remember coming home and seeing him lying on the couch and handing him the check,” Stuart said. “He started bawling. I started bawling.”

Stuart touches his father’s Livestrong bracelet, which he protects with tape before every game but never takes it off.
Click to expand...

leroy · Jun 21, 2009

After a slow start to the season, Holden has been playing like a man on fire. I'm sure many Dynamo fans have almost forgotten about DeRo the way Stuart has played. Now, he'll get another shot at the national team since he was called in to camp for the Gold Cup.

Soccer aside...from all accounts, Stuart is just a great kid. He does charity work and is a great citizen of the City of Houston. His father, I'm sure, is extremely proud of him as is the Dynamo fan base.

mtbrays · Jun 21, 2009

Great story. Stuart Holden is a fantastic player and I'm sure that his father would be proud of his torrid play as of late, just like the whole city. I hope that he gets a chance to show his stuff with the USMNT. Players like Holden help the Dynamo maintain their presence as the most grounded athletes in Houston.

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[Chron.com]Stuart Holden on Fathers day

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