I hit the wall last week. Or, maybe the wall hit me.

Either way, the result was a not-so-gentle reminder I don’t bounce back from long hours, questionable food choices and lack of sleep like I used to.

This wasn’t a shocking development.

I’ll be 58 in March, and I’m in the midst of my 38th season as a sports writer in East Texas. That’s a lot of late night games, early morning scholarship signings, miles traveled, fast food consumed and deadlines hit.

I can still hang with — and usually outwork — most of the young pups in the business, but occasionally I’ll have a week that’s tougher than a $2 steak and leaves me feeling like I tangled with a Grizzly Bear with chainsaw arms and barbed wire legs.

When that happens, I have a quick fix that has worked for me my entire career.

I find a bunch of great kids — the kind who make me hopeful for the future — and hang out with them for a little while.

I was able to do that nearly every day this past week, and the result was a remarkable boost for my physical and mental health.

On Tuesday, I got to visit a little with some of the kids who have been nominated as Best Preps athletes from our area high schools. These kids are the best of the best. They are varsity athletes who still find the time to do a required amount of community service and have GPAs higher than summertime gas prices.

Wednesday morning, I got to witness a scholarship signing for Kilgore High School soccer standout Leo Yzaguirre. He’s one of the best athletes in the state and has every right to be a little full of himself, but all I saw was a humble kid who appreciates the opportunities he’s been given, loves his family, friends, coaches and teachers and wants to make everyone proud.

Mission accomplished, young man.

Wednesday evening, I covered some Kilgore College basketball. The Rangers, under first-year coach Robert Byrd, are off to a 6-0 start after defeating the ETBU JV. A local kid, Thomas Hattaway, got hotter than fish grease in the second half and knocked down five 3-pointers on his way to a 19-point night.

This is the same kid who tore up his knee, missed all of last season and battled his way back to play college basketball in his hometown. If that doesn’t make you smile, go see your heart doctor and ask if you actually have one.

On Thursday, I was back at Kilgore College for a scholarship luncheon. The event is supposed to honor folks who have helped provide scholarships, but the stars of the event were three kids who have been on the receiving end.

Alex Nabor, Ian Purgason and Samuel Clements are able to attend college, thanks in large part, to those scholarships, and they thanked the contributors for the financial boost.

We should have been thanking them for the reminder the future is in good hands.

I put the finishing touches on my week by visiting White Oak High School for a College and Career Fair on Friday morning where I talked about a profession I love and hopefully swayed some of the great kids at White Oak to consider journalism as a career.

Who knows? Maybe one of them will eventually take my job.

Two weeks ago, I might have been OK with that, but — thanks to some great East Texas kids — they’ll have to fight me for it now.