If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain:
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain. Emily Dickinson
"Doors Swinging Open" by Frank Bruni, in the September 27, NY Times, is a story that brings the Dickinson poem to mind. It chronicles the journey of Energy Maburutse, a young man with osteogenesis imperfecta from rural Zimbabwe, to Lynn University in Florida.
Banzai!! Banzai!! Banzai!!! to Sensei Keiko Fukuda of San Francisco. She recently became the first woman to earn a 10th degree black belt in judo, at the age of 98. Only three others have this martial arts highest ranking - all men living in Japan. Fukuda started learning judo more than 75 years ago in Japan and still teaches three times a week. Earning this black belt was her lifelong dream. You can see an inspiring YouTube segment on Sensei Fukuda.
When Victoria Ford was a little girl growing up in Memphis, her family was so widely known, strangers would see her at the grocery store, notice a resemblance and ask, “Are you a Ford?”
But in 2005, when Victoria was still in elementary school, the family cracked apart. Her father was arrested and later convicted of taking a $55,000 bribe. An F.B.I. undercover video posted online shows him stuffing money into his suit coat and pants.
Shortly thereafter her mother, an alcoholic, was convicted of drunken driving three times and imprisoned. In an essay titled “To a Restless Little Brother Calling for Mama in His Sleep,” Victoria wrote:
You may not understand this now, but she isn’t coming back. Not tonight. Not tomorrow. Day after that. And no, she hasn’t left anything behind — a sticky note on the refrigerator door or a quick message for the answering machine, her voice a distant echo calling your name and mine. Nothing. I’m sorry because I know you get scared when the wind blows hard like this at night, when the shadows on your ceiling shuffle as if they’ve been alive all this time. But I’m right here. And the sun will not rise for another few hours and the birds outside are still sleeping —remember Johnjohn, your favorite cardinals nestled in the Sweet Gum tree down by the mailbox? The babies wrapped in small, ruby feathers. That’s how you should be right now. Dreaming and resting and not worrying.
Read this amazing story, Finding Voice in the Pain of a Family and It's Fall, in the NY Times, Monday, May 30, 2011.
In 2006, the legendary film critic, RogerEber, began treatment for thyroid cancer. Enduring procedure after procedure, and spoending over a year in hospital, he eventually lost the lower part of his jaw -- and with it the ability to eat and speak.
This TED video is a tribute to the human spirit. It's better than Prozac. When you have time, spend a few mintutes with Ebert and his team. Can link to TED or watch it here.
“Look what I found at the Salvation Army store!” my wife beams, holding up a crinkled document in her hand.
The yellowed paper had caught her eye when she dropped off our yearly donation of old clothing that afternoon. She purchased it for two dollars.
I take the heavy paper document in my hand and run my fingers along the edge. It measures six by eight inches. The printing is script, all Latin, except for the calligraphied name and signature at the bottom. more»
Brian T. Maurer has practiced pediatrics as a Physician Assistant for thirty years. His "Marginal Notes" column appears periodically in the Cell2Soul Blog. The title "Marginal Notes" is taken from a quote by Henry David Thoreau: "I love a broad margin to my life."
Charity Sings After Lung Transplant
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul. Invictis
William Ernest Henley could have been writing about the soprano, Charity Sunshine Tilleman-Dick who tells a double story of survival -- of her body, from a bilateral lung transplant, and of her spirit, fueled by an unwavering will to sing. The TED video will inspire you to reach for your own high notes!.
About this video, Bill Zeckhausen writes: "Many life changing expressions touch us briefly, and are forgotten. This beautiful young woman shares her terrifying experience over which she triumphs with an unforgettably defiant spirit and courage. Hearing her could inspire us to live our life passion no matter what challenges or traumas we face. What a treasure!"
Paul Miller, a lawyer who was born with achondroplasia dwarfism, overcame discrimination because of his disability and became a leader in the disability rights movement, died on October 19, 2010 at his home on Mercer Island, Wash. He was 49.
More than 40 times after graduating from Harvard Law School, Mr. Miller received rejection letters from law firms. Full NY Times Obituary.
It is important to be reminded of unconquerable souls who live in our midst. When so many "healthy" people look on themselves as disabled -- what fires ignite people like Paul Miller?
"Polio may seem like a distant memory. But thousands of people still live with
the effects of the disease every day. And many are only in their 60s." Barron Lerner has a moving essay in the January 27, 2009 New York Times about Sharon Stern who, in 1954, at age 9, developed the dreaded “summer plague.” Stern has not had the use of her arms or legs since and need assistance for every breath.
This remarkable story about a woman with a full life in spite of almost unimaginable handicaps is worth reading in a quiet moment. Ms. Stern is a poet, and we will try to find some of her poetry to post on Cell 2 Soul. Her book is called Armature -- but I have not found a source yet.
Whoever saves one life saves the entire world. The Qur’an
If you save one life, it is as it you have saved the entire world. The Talmud
Ordinary heroes. What gene separates them from most of us? We should sing about them.
Sandra Samuel (from her name, probably a Christian) living in in a Hindu country, at great personal peril rescues a Jewish infant from Muslim terrorists. The child's name is Moische (Moses). Only in India. Perhaps, Tagore has addressed this. One of you will know.
Let us take a moment to wonder about Sandra Samuel. Out of great horror -- moments of strange grace.
This photo is from Getty Images
At his victory speech, Barak Obama praised 106 year-old Ann Nixon Cooper who was born just a generation past slavery in 1902; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin."
For more on Mrs. Cooper see: Profile
