Starting Over

Sharyn can't imagine him doing any more than he's doing now. He emerged from prison a kind of new McLain, someone she had only dreamed of him being. In the past he had sometimes been abrupt, insensitive, rude, even nasty. "It's just a whole different guy now," she says. "Today he's the kind of guy I wish he'd have been when we got married. He never wanted to help me before. Now he makes breakfast! Give me a break! He never made breakfast before. He makes dinner. He never, ever made dinner. God!"

He holds her hand when he walks down the street with her. Earlier this month, he even hung drapes. He walks and washes the dog. When he goes out of town, he asks her if she would like to come along. He wakes up at six, kisses her and says, "Good morning!"

"Drives me crazy," she says.

Naturally, Sharyn is leery, wondering if Denny will revert to his old ways. "I can't believe what has happened," she says. "It's such a change. It's overwhelming. It has happened so fast. Sixty days ago, I couldn't feed my kids. God, it was tough. I am leery. I've told him that."

To which he says, "It ain't gonna happen." But he appreciates her skepticism. "I can't blame her for not trusting me."

For now, he has been challenging the days just as he used to challenge the hitters, kicking off the mound early each day and heading out the door. The man who once hated to wake up in the morning now says, "I hate to go to sleep at night. I'm eager to get going the next day. I'm higher now, mentally, than I've ever been. I realize what I almost threw away. I learned a hell of a lesson. Now it's time to get on with the rest of my life."

"I love it all."