DON’T GIVE UP, DON’T GIVE IN, AND DON’T QUIT.
This morning, I was about to dive into a piece I’m very excited about writing, but as I was getting ready to start, the universe, or God, as I prefer to call my Higher Power, handed me a beautiful card that I had tucked away in a file. It was a Father’s Day card from my son Clint from a few years ago and it brought me down to earth and then lifted me back up. My son Clint is a beautiful story.
At three years old Clint had a brain tumor (a medulloblastoma) matted on the visual center of his brain. It couldn’t be clipped out of the brain cavity; it had to be surgically picked off of his brain, the absolute worst circumstance for him. Clint, my wife, and I struggled for years through recurring life-and-death situations to get Clint to the other side of this nightmare, but we all made it.
Clint ended up totally blind, brain damaged, severely hearing impaired, and ataxic. It took several doctors, nurses, therapists, counselors, teachers, family, friends, and strangers to help us across those treacherous years, but we made it. Actually, the ordeal destroyed my marriage. A few years after our divorce, my wife succumbed to her inability to forgive God for Clint’s tragedy and today is under full-time, daily, care of her family.
Clint is my hero. He’s the toughest guy I know, and even with his brain damage and other challenges he has made a life for himself while living in a group home. Of course, that could only happen with the help of many great and loving people that make up Prospect Inc. a wonderful organization for the mentally and physically handicapped in Lebanon TN. Clint has many, many friends that love him, his strength and courage, and his very direct way of sharing his beliefs, values, and opinions. I love my son, and he loves me, although I’m not exempt from his sharp tongue when he deems I need it. Over the years we have had several long-running, sometimes heated disagreements about his life, my life and life in general. You could call Clint opinionated, but the world is a better place because Clint is in it. I think I need to go right now and FaceTime him and see how his day is going.
Jack