Love Is Stronger . . .
Having a goal based on love is
the greatest life insurance in the world. If you had asked my dad
why he got up in the morning, you would have found his answer disarmingly
simple: "To make my wife happy."
Mom and Dad met when they were
nine. Every day before school, they met on a park bench with the
homework. Mom corrected Dad's English and he did the same with her math.
Upon graduation, their teachers
said that the two of them were the best "student" in the school. Note the
singular!
They took their time building
their relationship, even though Dad always knew she was the girl
for him. Their first kiss occurred when they were 17, and their romance
continued to grow into their 80s.
Just how much power their relationship
created was brought to light in 1964. The doctor told Dad he had cancer
and estimated that he had six months to one year left at the
most.
"Sorry to disagree with you, Doc,"
my father said. "But I'll tell you how long I have. One day longer than
my wife. I love her too much to leave the planet without her."
And so it was, to the amazement
of everyone who didn't really know this love-matched pair, that Mom
passed away at the age of 85 and Dad followed one year later when
he was 86.
Near the end, he told my brothers and
me that those 17 years were the best six months he ever spent.
To the wonderful doctors and nurses
at the Department of Veterans' Affairs Medical Center at Long Beach,
he was a walking miracle. They kept a loving watch on him and just couldn't
understand how a body so riddled with cancer could continue to function
so well.
My dad's explanation was simple.
He informed them that he had been a medic in World War I and saw amputated
arms and legs, and he had noticed that none of them could think. So he
decided he would tell his body how to behave. Once, as he stood up and
it was evident he felt a stabbing pain, he looked down at his chest and
shouted, "Shut up! We're having a party here."
Two days before he left us he
said, "Boys, I'll be with your mother very soon and someday, some place
we'll all be together again. But take your time about joining us; your
mother and I have a lot of catching up to do."
It is said that love is stronger
than prison walls. Dad proved it was a heck of a lot stronger than tiny
cancer cells.
Bob, George and I are still here,
armed with Dad's final gift.
A goal, a love and a dream give
you total control over your body and your life.
By John Wayne Schlatter
from Chicken Soup for the Surviving Soul
Copyright 1996 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor
Hansen, Patty Aubery & Nancy Mitchell,
R.N.