Caring Souls
The team at Pfister Orthodontics participated in Race with Grace on the last Sunday of summer.
Summer may have started off slow this year, but boy… after the Fourth of July… the days just flew by.
And by the time you read this, the Autumn Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere will have occurred at 9:03 PM on Thursday, September 22nd, marking the first day of Fall!
Most of my patients are as sad to see Summer pass as they are watching the Browns defense against the pass. But you have to give the Browns points for creativity — even the odds-makers in Vegas didn’t see that sequence of plays coming against the Jets. (The odds of them losing in the last two minutes, while being up by 13 points, was 80:1!) Cleveland made all the news outlets, because we all know bad news travels much faster than good and, as humans, we seem to have an insatiable appetite for watching or reading about those who create bad news.
In fact, if you watch too much evening news… or read too many tabloids… or if you travel by phone or laptop on any of the social media highways… you get a very twisted and tainted view of mankind. We seem to be portrayed as constantly fighting, both sides of the aisle, concerned only about our own self-interests and culture; as a specie, we would like to erase the Past and to heck with the Future. As with Sodom and Gomorrah, the Roman Empire, and numerous other civilizations, we humans can be so caught up in self-indulgence and personal gain that nothing else matters until it is too late and we are consumed by our own greed. Though this negative side to humanity does seem to cycle through every known culture, even today, I have to feel that, like bad news, the negativity of humanity gets way over-played when compared to that which is good in our society today.
This week’s blog came to me last Sunday morning — no, not when I was in church, but as I was running on Smith Road, with people I’d never met, as we did our darndest to finish the Race with Grace 5K.
It occurred to me, when the chips are down and it appears like all is lost, humans have an amazing way of opening their hearts and pouring forth a love and compassion that must bring a huge smile to our Great Creator’s face. I’d like to expound on this thought by comparing two, on-the-surface dissimilar events, yet both carry a similar message.
Last year, I attended the 20-year anniversary of 9/11 in New York at ground zero…
Due to the crowds, I was not able to get into the 9/11 museum until June of this year.
Last Sunday, our office helped sponsor Race with Grace; and we ran and walked as a team in the race itself. I was surprised at my emotions and the feeling of the crowd on Sunday because I had similar feelings as I walked away from the 9/11 museum.
About now, many of you are thinking, “Dr. Pfister, these two events cannot ever be compared and there is no possible way that there is any similarity between the two!” Give me five minutes of your time. Have I ever let you down?
On the morning of September 11, 2001, 19 Al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial jets in the United States and flew them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and parts of the Pentagon; a fourth plane was diverted from its intended target to a field in Pennsylvania. A total of 2,996 people were killed, along with the 19 hijackers.
As one walks through the 9/11 museum, the casualty total is broken down into various groups. The innocent workers in the Twin Towers and those just out walking along the street that fateful morning, number 2,557 victims who were truly struck down in their prime of life, leaving shattered families and loved ones behind. I was emotionally taken back by the list of 420 emergency workers, firemen, policemen, and EMS paramedics who were killed in the line of duty, they were there to save others and they paid the ultimate price!
This single event changed the way we looked at the world.
The way we travel was changed. And no longer could we consider ourselves immune from such atrocities. Walking through the last third of the 9/11 Museum, you begin to lose the feeling of all-is-lost, our God has forsaken us. As you look into the faces of those individuals in the pictures on all the walls and ceiling who were scrambling to find survivors, you get the feeling of hope and love; and in their eyes, you see that they believe in their hearts they will succeed in finding every last survivor.
Care and compassion are driving these individuals to help others in-need who they have never met! Even as the towers began to collapse and crash to the ground several minutes later, many refused to run and save themselves, but rather chose to stay and help as many as possible. This is a true example of the good that resides in humanity’s heart, not the negative portrayal we hear so much of.
The 9/11 attack was a terrorist attack from above; cancer is a cellular attack from within.
Terrorists can look just like you or me. Cancer cells are just like regular cells, except that they don’t respond to normal cellular signals and can metastasize and cause havoc in other parts of the body. As a cancer survivor, I have to admit that when you are first informed that you have cancer, it is truly an emotional gut punch. No matter how much you prepare for the worst, when your oncologist looks at the floor, around the room, and finally into your eyes, you know what is coming next! The room may spin a bit and you may not hear the next several sentences. (Always take your significant other.) Then, there are the tears, denial, and finally… acceptance.
A positive attitude is essential for acceptance and treatment. And a stiff upper lip helps those around you who are at a loss for words. The many healthcare professionals who took care of me never met me before (and I’ve not seen them since), but during the darkest times, they were a mainstay of support and guidance to get my life back on track.
I was fortunate, I’m a survivor. Mary Grace was not as fortunate and, when she passed with breast cancer in 2005, her husband Mike, the Grace family, and everyone who ever knew Mary suffered a tremendous loss.
As with any loss of an individual in the prime of life, so full of love and joy, the questions abound from, “Why her?” to “Why now?” In these situations, the family tries to pick up the pieces and, in many cases, they move away and a lot of questions remain for those left behind…
But not in the Grace family! Mike was not about to let Mary’s amazing commitment to helping her community end with cancer. Mary wore many hats as a wife, mom, daughter; but the one she is most remembered for is always being a source of love and support to those around her, even as her worldly body was failing her.
The Mary Grace Memorial Foundation was created by Mike as a loving, ongoing commitment to helping other families cope with day-to-day financial needs as they go through the treatment of cancer. Many personal testimonials can be found on the Race with Grace website — stories of families who had no other place to turn and were helped by the Foundation, just as Mary would have wanted.
As I finished the race this past Sunday, caught my breath, and looked around at all the participants (as well as the healthcare providers who had donated their time to make sure it was a safe race), one could not help but feel the outpouring of love and compassion in that crowd.
Literally, you could cut the air, no kidding… it was spiritual, uplifting, and you know Mary was there. Many of these runners/walkers/sponsors never knew Mary, or anyone in the Grace family for that matter. Just like those who built the 9/11 museum, no single terrorist event from above or within is going to stop the outpouring of love and compassion that humans have for each other. And we shall never forget those who have been an unselfish example of this true caring spirit that resides in all of us!
The next time you get an opportunity to support or participate in an event, program, or fundraiser that will make this community or world a better place by helping those less fortunate, struck down by illness, whatever the misfortune, I hope you will take a minute to evaluate your decision.
And I truly hope each and every one of my readers, sometime in the next year, has the opportunity to participate in something that is so uplifting that it fills every cell in your body with love… so much so that you have to write to someone and tell them about it for fear you will burst if you don’t!
It’s a community-changing experience when people come together for a cause driven by love and compassion.
As a specie, we humans are pretty cool and capable of a lot of emotions, good and bad. If each of us would try to accentuate the positives in life and lift up just one person we meet each day or week, think what a beautiful world this would be. Now, get out there and start building those fires and enjoying these great Fall evenings with those you love.
Cheers to all the caring souls out there (and there are many),
Dr. Pfister