When I was 10 years old, my world looked pretty grim. There was not much to laugh about. I had cerebral palsy. I had flunked first grade at my local, one-room school in rural Wisconsin. I was staying with “house” parents during the week to attend an orthopedic school 60 miles from home. And, my mother had cancer and was on chemotherapy.
But, during that time, I learned an essential skill from my third-grade teachers: how to step out of my situation and laugh at one of my quirks.
I was struggling with my multiplication tables and couldn’t remember that three times nine was 27. Miss Van Tassell and Miss McKillip, both blessed with hearty laughter, teamed up to help me never to forget that three times nine was 27.
It became our comic routine. In the hallway, at lunch or in therapy, I would suddenly be quizzed by the staff people, “Jim, what’s three times nine?” I would proudly answer, “27,” and everyone would laugh, including myself.
I had learned to not take myself too seriously -- to, indeed, find amusement in my own vulnerabilities. That’s a lesson that today I feel so lucky to have learned at such an early age.
* How has time given you a new appreciation for what you learned from one of your mentors?
When I was 10 years old, my world looked pretty grim. There was not much to laugh about. I had cerebral palsy. I had flunked first grade at my local, one-room school in rural Wisconsin. I was staying with “house” parents during the week to attend an orthopedic school 60 miles from home. And, my mother had cancer and was on chemotherapy.
But, during that time, I learned an essential skill from my third-grade teachers: how to step out of my situation and laugh at one of my quirks.
I was struggling with my multiplication tables and couldn’t remember that three times nine was 27. Miss Van Tassell and Miss McKillip, both blessed with hearty laughter, teamed up to help me never to forget that three times nine was 27.
It became our comic routine. In the hallway, at lunch or in therapy, I would suddenly be quizzed by the staff people, “Jim, what’s three times nine?” I would proudly answer, “27,” and everyone would laugh, including myself.
I had learned to not take myself too seriously -- to, indeed, find amusement in my own vulnerabilities. That’s a lesson that today I feel so lucky to have learned at such an early age.
* How has time given you a new appreciation for what you learned from one of your mentors?