The life of late 14-year-old Bayfield School District student, talented baseball player and long-term cancer-fighter Ozzie Goldman, is being honored this year with the Bayfield School District Primary School theme “Live Like Ozzie.”
The theme, Bayfield Primary School Principal Jan Alderton said, exemplifies approaching each day with faith, curiosity, courage, encouragement and humor – just like Ozzie would have.
“It was such an honor ... We just loved it,” said Robin Goldman, Ozzie’s mom and Bayfield Primary School second grade teacher, of hearing that the school wanted to honor Ozzie through the theme. “(Principal Alderton) summed his life up – his attitude up – perfectly.”
Ozzie battled several different forms of cancer throughout his life, Robin said, beginning when he was only 2 years old. When he was 4, he was diagnosed with Li Fraumeni syndrome, a condition that significantly increases a person’s risk of developing various cancers.
Ozzie’s first diagnosis as a toddler was rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer of the muscle tissue.
At 6, he was diagnosed with several low-grade gliomas – the scientific term for a type of brain tumor.
At 11, he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a bone cancer brought on by radiation from treatment for his rhabdomyosarcoma diagnosis, Robin said.
His last diagnosis, at 14, was a high-grade brain tumor.
Ozzie died May 7, before his 15th birthday.
Throughout his long fight with cancer, Ozzie’s shining personality, unyielding sense of humor and good heart never faltered, she said.
“The point about Ozzie is, through all of that, he was so happy and positive, and always saw the good in whatever situation he was in,” Robin said. “Unless you could see all of his scars, you’d probably have no idea what he was going through, because he just wanted to be a normal kid.”
Alderton was the first to suggest honoring Ozzie through the Bayfield school theme.
She has known Ozzie’s family since she taught Ozzie’s sister, Gracie, in first grade. Gracie graduated from Bayfield High School in May, shortly after Ozzie’s death.
“This year, I invite each of us to take up a quiet, powerful challenge: Live Like Ozzie,” said Alderton in an email to students, families and faculty at the beginning of the school year.
“Let this be the heartbeat of our year – honoring Ozzie not only in memory, but in action. In every classroom, hallway and meeting, may we carry forward the light he shared with us,” she wrote.
Ozzie was just as determined in his sports endeavors as he was in his cancer battle, Robin said. He was a talented baseball player, even after having a scapulotomy – the surgical removal of his right shoulder blade – during treatment for his osteosarcoma diagnosis.
Robin said the operation didn’t keep Ozzie from being one of the top two batters on his travel baseball team.
Ozzie experienced a lot of pain during his life, Robin said, some of it excruciating. In an attempt to treat the pain from his scapulotomy, Ozzie got a nerve stimulator implant, and though it did help, it was not a permanent fix for his pain.
Despite this, his determination and positivity never faltered, she said.
“He was a fighter, but he just was so positive, and I think that’s why Jan really wanted to honor him,” Robin said.
The primary school is not the only Bayfield institution honoring Ozzie this year.
Many students and athletes from Bayfield High School, where Ozzie would have been a sophomore this year, donned outfits and emblems – like Ozzie’s baseball jersey number, 19 – to honor him in their back-to-school pictures and during their sports games, Robin said.
The celebration of Ozzie’s life hasn’t stopped at the classroom door, either. The town of Bayfield has plans to rename the baseball fields in Joe Stephenson Park after Ozzie, and Robin is currently in the process of publishing a book about his life, at his request.
Ozzie’s dad, Dan Goldman, said what it means to “Live Like Ozzie” is tough to boil down to a sentence – but that the heart of the phrase lies in Ozzie’s remarkable personality and good attitude.
“He would not let anything get him down,” he said. “He always approached everything he did with a real optimistic spirit, and the idea that he was going to enjoy every, every moment that he could. I couldn’t have been more proud to have been his dad, and I couldn’t have been more lucky to have been his friend.”
Ozzie’s sister, Gracie, said the Henri Matisse quote, “There are always flowers for those who want to see them,” exemplifies what it means to her to “Live Like Ozzie.”
“(Ozzie) found flowers in everything, and I think that is so incredibly important,” she said. “He spread so much joy during his life and continues to spread joy even after he has passed, and I want to make that same impact on other people and carry out his legacy.”
Gracie plans to go into a career in nursing, and said she feels she can help her future patients by living like Ozzie.
“He spent a lot of his time in the hospital, but always found a way to have fun,” she said. “I think if I can find joy in life, I can help other people find joy in their lives, and that is exactly what he did his whole life.”
Even as Ozzie faced death, Robin said, he “handled it like such a champ.”
“He understood what was happening,” she said. “He said he was excited to not have cancer anymore.”
Ozzie found comfort in religion, she said, and told a fellow churchgoer close to his death, “It’s OK – Heaven’s better than Earth.”
“That was Ozzie’s take on everything,” Robin said. “He just found a way to see the good side, even when he was dying.”
For Robin, the “Live Like Ozzie” theme means reacting to the world with the grace and spirit of Ozzie, both inside and out of the classroom.
“I find myself just trying to respond to whatever situation like Ozzie might have,” she said. “With more kindness, more grace, and with just ... no matter how tough things are, (it’s) not the end of the world until it is.”
Live Like Ozzie
Live Like Ozzie apparel was recently made available to the public, said Bayfield Primary School Principal Jan Alderton, so that anyone in the community can honor Ozzie and remember to see the good in each day.
For more information, visit: https://tinyurl.com/ms3wr99n.
epond@durangoherald.com
