Happy Birthday, Number Nine

Gordie Howe turns 86 today.  That's the good news.  The bad news is he's battling dementia and we all know that's a losing fight.  Helene St. James, hockey writer for the Detroit Free Press, has a great article celebrating Mr. Hockey on his birthday.  An excerpt:

Gordie Howe never was one to sit around, and that hasn’t changed even as dementia roils his health. He turns 86 today, an event that will appropriately be celebrated in Detroit, because no city ever has celebrated Howe more. He reigned here as a local hockey folk hero for three decades, defining what it meant to be talented and tough.

Howe doesn’t come to Detroit a whole lot any more, because he cannot be on his own. He has spent the past four months in Lubbock, Texas — staying with his daughter, Cathy, and her husband, Bob — escaping the harsh winter that would have impeded his physical activity. The man who six decades ago dominated opponents in hockey remains a man who doesn’t like to be still.

I never got to see Gordie play... except on The Tube o' You... but I have a special kind of love for the man, like Wings fans, hockey fans, and most all Detroiters do.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Howe.