Tuesday, 30 August 2011
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An Inspiration to Us All
I had a professor in college. His name is Dr. Wes Gerig. He taught at my school for 51 years, until the school eventually closed. When I was in school, he was 83 years old.
When he was 3 years old, he was hit by a car. The physicians thought he was going to die. When the doctors saw he was getting better, they knew he could live a long life, but he'd be mentally retarded and would never be able to walk again. But he got better. And he grew in knowledge and wisdom. His leg was crushed -- and I mean crushed -- but he could walk with a cane. This man eventually went on to get his PhD and became a professor at my school.
Now again, he was 83 years old when I was attending school. He walked with a limp -- a big limp because his left leg was not strong enough to keep him up. As he'd take a step with his left leg, he'd shrink down about a foot. He kind of had an up and down motion as he'd limp along. Before class, we'd always knew he was coming because we heard his cane clicking in the hall, the length was adjustable, so his cane clicked when he walked. We would hear a "clickclick clickclick clickclick" that would go on for five minutes as he was walking down the hall from his office to the classroom. This is what this man did every day, multiple times.
It was a sad sight to watch him scoot and drag down the hallway. But he smiled, regardless. We all wanted to get him a hoveround or some other type of electric scooter, but he was too proud. He loved teaching so much that he didn't care if he had to struggle down the hallway to teach his class. He believed that it was his lot in life to deal with his crippled leg. Yet, through all of this, he was in class every morning -- and in the 50+ years he was teaching, he only took one sick day, and that was because he had surgery to get his gallbladder removed. That was when I was in school.
Eventually, he caved and accepted an electric scooter. He knew it was for the best because, well, he was just an old, crippled man.
Now he never wanted to retire. He didn't feel like it was right and he felt like it would be unhealthy for him to slow down.
The truth is, keeping active is the secret to staying young. My old professor is now around 86 and he just put out a new book called, "The Core of Christian Love". Not many 86 year-olds will do that.
Who is an inspiration to you and why? What do you find inspirational about Dr. Gerig? What are you doing to be inspirational to others?
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- From: jmallory@xanga
- Name: Jimmy
- Location: Dayton, Ohio, United States
- About Me: Jesus is alive and working in me. I'm just trying to manifest his glory.
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Comments (3)
My grandfather was / is one of my biggest inspirations. Up until a month and a half before he died, at age 97, he had a more active social life than I have ever had. I think he was even half-tempted to check out of the hospital to give a previously-scheduled talk at church.
He never stopped moving from the moment he got out of bed. He was on the resident's council at the retirement home were he lived. He belonged to a group that met every Saturday to discuss world events. (And not just discuss; each member took turns offering an introductory lecture.) His retirement community has its own polling station, and for years he helped run it, being there all day to answer questions, etc. And he reliably showed up for games night, where he often was the only male. (Yes, he even received more attention from the ladies than I ever have.) He was also a very curious man. Like most people, he was interested in what directly affected his life. But his curiosity had few bounds. He was even relationally curious. If something was interesting to YOU, if something really fired YOU up, he wanted to know about that too. He carried pen and a notebook everywhere he went so he could start asking questions and taking notes. And there was a good chance that the topic you alerted him to would get a mention in the eight page family news letter that he wrote twice a month for 15 years. Though his education consisted of a business degree (Associates, I think), that he earned in the 1940s, he kept pushing himself to learn more. When he died, four historians showed up for the funeral to share how much he had been involved in their work. And (aside from the college degree) all that came AFTER retirement.
As his health declined, he too was disappointed that he had to start using a scooter. Though the resulting lack of exercise probably caused a further decline in his physical health, I think it helped keep his mind alert, since it allowed him to travel even farther than he could walk. (And he pushed the battery on that thing to the limit. If there was a history or arts related event going on, and if it was free, he was there.)
I don't know what I do to inspire people, but people say I do. Part of what drives me is to become the sort of person that inspires me. I recently wrote up a list of qualities I want to enhance or eliminate in my own life. My grandfather is one of my chief models.
Your professor sounds like my beloved business professor. He's been teaching at my college for about 48 years. He would tell us regularly that he would not quit his passion until he could no longer leave his bed. It was a rarity for him to miss a class due to health reasons. He had a catchy laugh and was so easy to talk to - and he always encouraged me in my participation in the college's campus ministry because faith is very important to him. He'd even ask me to lead invocations at his scholarship dinners.
Something that really stuck to me was one particular evening course - Introduction to Entrepreneurship. He told my class his history in dabbling in various industries like mortuary, accounting, and furniture sales. he told us that is you love your work so much, it isn't a job. He loves - and I mean LOVES - to teach, so he told us that he has never worked a day of his life - he has loved what he did.
He taught me to find my passion and go for it - to find a "job" that I will love and not feel like I *have* to do it. I saw his love for life and it gives me inspiration to lead such an optimistic life. He's a professor I will never forget and I will hold him dear to my heart.
I'd be inspired by any Christian who gave all he had to the poor and followed Christ. I'm not expecting that to occur any day soon though.