Reece Gardner: A polio story from Rotary International

Sometimes we are tempted to say, "Woe is me," and feel that we are the only ones facing difficulty, when in fact there are a multitude of obstacles that people are faced with every day. Rotary International has been deeply involved during the past 40 years in the fight to eradicate polio from the face of the earth, and the results have been monumental.

In looking at the power of attitude in how we handle difficulty, I want to share with you one of the many true-life stories about the power of the human spirit. Carl Chinnery, in this month's Rotarian publication, tells about how there were five children in his family - George, Bill, Richard, Larry, and Carl - and EVERY ONE of them got polio. His oldest brother, George, died, and his middle brother spent months in an iron lung.

Carl, being very young at the time, didn't recall many of the difficulties he and his family went through, so in 1999 he asked his mother to tell him about the family's experience with polio. She found it too painful to talk about, but she did find the courage to put some things in writing, which Carl wanted to share with the world. Here is a portion of what she wrote:

"In August, 1942, Bill came in and announced he had polio. Then George became ill. On the night of August 11, he couldn't swallow his medication. Your Dad was on the road, so I called Dr. Eldridge and he came and took George and me to the hospital. They took George, but they wouldn't let me stay. I went home and called your Dad, and he started home immediately, drove all night and arrived at 4 a.m. At 7 a.m. the hospital called us and said George was dying.

“When we arrived at the hospital, George had already passed away. By that time, Richard, Larry, and Carl had also become sick. When we got home from the hospital, Richard was much worse, so we rushed him to the hospital. When we walked in, I informed them that I was staying... I had lost one child and I was staying, no matter what. We took turns, so that Richard always had one of us there.

“When we went home we began treatments for all our sons. Bill was on his way to recovery, but Richard, Larry, and Carl were the sick ones now. My mother drove from California to help. People came from everywhere to give us hope and offer to help. When the boys were well enough, we had to start therapy. I took my children and another lady in leg braces and her little boy three times a week."

Carl's mother closed her letter by saying, "Richard has one leg a little shorter than the other, Carl's chest problems continued, Bill had many problems. And, of course, we have one little boy in heaven."

We have all heard the old saying, "I cried the blues because I had no shoes, 'til I met a man who had no feet." Let's count our blessings, and remember that time is more valuable than money. We can get more money but we can't more time.

Now for a little humor: A flight crew is landing at an unfamiliar airport. The control tower gives them a runway assignment and they start their approach. The pilot says, "Does that runway look kind of short to you?"

The co-pilot says, "It sure does. I thought it was supposed to be longer than that."

"Me too."

"Better set full flaps."

"Full flaps set."

"I want thrust reversers the minute we touch."

"Standing by on the thrust reversers."

"And full power once thrust reversers are set."

"Roger that."

They touch down, blast the thrust reversers, stomp the brakes, and just manage to get the plane stopped before it runs off into the grass.

The pilot says, "Wow, that was a short runway."

The co-pilot says, "Yeah, but look how WIDE it is!"

Have a wonderful day.