The passionate pursuit of possibility
Years ago, while unearthing an ancient Egyptian tomb, an
archaeologist came upon seeds buried in a piece of wood.
Planted, the seeds realized their potential after more than 3,000 years! Are
there conditions in the lives of people so discouraging, so defeating, that
human beings - regardless of inherent potentiality - are doomed to lives of
failure and quiet desperation? Or are there also seeds of possibility in people,
an urge for becoming that is so strong, that the hard crust of adversity is
breached? Consider this story that came over the wires of the Associated
Press on May 23, 1984:
As a child, Mary Groda did not learn to read and write. Experts labeled her
retarded. As an adolescent she "earned" an additional label, "incorrigible,"
and was sentenced to two years in a reformatory. It was here, ironically, in
this closedin place, that Mary - bending to the challenge to learn - worked at
her task for as long as 16 hours a day. Her hard work paid off. She was
awarded her (GED) high school diploma.
But more misfortune was to visit Mary Groda. After leaving the reformatory,
she became pregnant without benefit of marriage. Then, two years later a
second pregnancy resulted in a stroke, erasing her hard-earned powers of
reading and writing. With the help and support of her father, Mary battled
back, regaining what she had lost.
In dire financial straits, Mary went on welfare. Finally, to make ends meet,
she took in seven foster children. It was during this period that she started
taking courses at a community college. Upon completion of her course work,
she applied to and was accepted by the Albany Medical School to study
medicine.
In the spring of 1984 in Oregon, Mary Groda Lewis - she's married now -
paraded in full academic regalia across the graduation stage. No one can
know what private thoughts went through Mary's mind as she reached out to
grasp this eloquent testimony to her self-belief and perseverance, her
diploma that announced to all the world: Here stands on this very small point
of planet Earth a person who dared to dream the impossible dream, a person
who comfirms for all of us our human divineness. Here stands Mary Groda
Lewis, MD.
