From The Storyteller
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Hello All: Most of this story was started a while back but I suspect it was meant for what is going on now. Enjoy, Doug
Stairs “We did it, two laps of the track, and it’s cold and windy” - Words of a mother who has a child with special needs (dad is a Sounding Board member). The goal during this C-19 chaos is to make 4 laps around the track, and day one they didn’t even make one. There is a victory every day when any distance is covered, but on this particularly nasty day the obstacles were huge and success sweet. Love is shown in many ways. Which brings me to Elaine growing up in flat land West Texas, where the only two-story buildings were county courthouses. It wasn’t until she began teaching in Harlingen that she encountered the obstacle of stairs. On her first day she had to carry all her “stuff” up to her second-floor classroom one step at a time. The obstacle of walking up a flight of stairs didn’t last long however, as those stairs soon became a part of her exercise routine. Which brings me to the total collapse of my baseball career at age 12. Prior to aging out of Little League, I was a starter on the Cardinals. The obstacle that ended my baseball career were the pitchers who had learned to throw a curve. I just couldn’t hit a curve. Which brings me to the observation that there will always be obstacles in life. Stairs and numbers of laps on a track can offer an opportunity to grow through perseverance and accomplishment, while obstacles like curve balls can teach us, try as we might, we aren’t always going to win. Which brings me to the conclusion that because obstacles are a natural part of life, how we respond to them very much defines who we are. Moral: Responding to the stairs of life is always a challenge. |