Marching Band Pays Tribute to Teacher Who Saved Their Lives

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Students in the American Fork High School Marching Band swept the awards not long ago in a competition at Brigham Young University.  What made this story interesting and somewhat controversial is this:  on the way back from another competition held in Idaho, the driver of the bus in which the students were riding fell asleep at the wheel.  All of the students survived.  The one fatality was the 33 year old instructor who grabbed for the steering wheel when she noticed the driver was out cold.

The controversial part occurred because some people believe that it is unseemly for life to go on, for joy to be in people’s hearts, or for friends and relatives to be happy and involved in their lives when someone dies.  Some people believe that it is disrespectful, cavalier and insensitive for others to carry on as though a tragedy didn’t happen.  Generally, this belief comes out of a confusion of pain, emotions and guilt over survival.

I think it’s a good thing that these students competed, and they did so in remembrance of Heather Christensen, the teacher who saved their lives.  And that’s the point:  she saved their lives so they could live, love, and play music.  I believe they showed her immense respect by playing in her honor, continuing with the competition for which she coached them.   Her immortality comes from being remembered fondly by her students who used the skills they learned from her to create the music she loved so much.

When someone we love dies, we don’t honor them by denying ourselves the normal pleasures of life.  I find that to be an insult.  Life is precious, and when somebody is gone from life, that which they lost should be treated with the utmost reverence by squeezing every moment of dignity, creativity, joy, adventure, work, love, compassion and fun that is possible.  This is the way you honor the deceased:  you carry on and do something of value with your life.

The students received a long, standing ovation as they marched off the field and embraced in tearful hugs.  What a fitting memorial to a brave, caring teacher.

Inspiration from a Teenager

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The Hartford Courant recently published an essay by Justin Verrier on a Connecticut female teenage swimmer.  “After swimming laps at a recent practice in the Glastonbury High School pool, Rachel Grusse told her coach, Suzi Hoyt, her shoulder felt sore.  Hoyt responded as she always does to such concerns by her swimmers, instructing Grusse to put on flippers and ‘kick for a little while’ to rest her arms.  ‘I just looked up at her and told her, Um…I don’t think I can do that, Grusse said, smiling.”

Remember the word smiling.  When Grusse was 16 months old, it was discovered that she was born without a spleen, and she contracted a form of bacterial pneumonia that cut off the blood flow to her extremities, which resulted in the cutting off of her legs at the base of her knees, as well as the last joint of her fingers.

Now, many teenage girls with just a few pimples would hide in their bedrooms, but not Rachel.  With the help of prosthetic legs, she has participated in all types of sports, including soccer and, most recently, wheelchair basketball, but swimming is her passion.  Since she has to rely on her upper body for swimming, she does a lot of upper body strengthening, like…walking on her hands!

Her comment?  “I’ve just heard some people say that I’m an example to other kids.  But to me, I don’t feel like I’m any different.  I’m just doing what I can, and doing the best that I can.“

She swims against “normal” swimmers and rarely wins, but she loves the sport anyway.

She swims against others who are disabled and often places, but not always, and she loves the sport anyway. 

Since she has no memory of having had legs, for her, it is kind of “normal” - the real amazing quality of hers is her attitude to just do what she can and do the best that she can.

Disabled or not, that is the winning attitude in life that ultimately brings you happiness.  She does what she loves and does the best she can at it.  Period.  There is a lesson in that for everyone.

Teen Sailor Gets Dissed by the Associated Press

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A now 17-year-old boy from Thousand Oaks, California recently sailed, by himself, some 28,000 miles in one year on a 36-foot sailboat.  Zac Sunderland was 16 when he left Marina del Rey harbor in June, 2008.

The Associated Press writer was a bit snarky, I think, when writing: “But the shaggy-haired Thousand Oaks native might not hold the record of being the youngest person to sail around the world alone for long.  British sailor Mike Perham is a few months younger than Sunderland, and is sailing a bigger, faster boat.”

If I were Zac’s mother, this would have annoyed me.  I’m not his mother, but it annoys me.  Assuming she or he wants to keep a scrapbook commemorating his sailing exploits, what a snarky thing to have included.  “A few months…a bigger, faster boat.”  So what?

Here is a 16 (now 17) year old kid who, instead of partying, abusing drugs, alcohol or hanging out with silly girls, instead of spending hours on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter or whatever, instead of hanging in his room sullen, instead of causing trouble at school, instead of driving too fast in the car he shouldn’t have been given in the first place, instead of a lot of typical teenage boy activities, took on a challenge that was to test his ability to discipline himself, live austerely, deal with unpredictable weather and seas, survive loneliness and fear, and fix equipment failures when warranted.

Shoving up his nose in print that someone else trying it is younger and has a better boat, shows, in my opinion, a complete ignorance of the difficulties and challenges he had to face.  It is remarkable for such a young person to brave all the elements of wind and sea to take an incredible journey on his own.  I am sure he now has a healthy respect for nature, life and himself.  I am sure he won’t hesitate to face many other challenges on land.  I am sure he won’t be abusing himself or substances to get a “rush.”  I am sure he’s a fine young man who should be an inspiration to other teens.  You are never too young to have a dream and go for it.

I’m sure his mom is very proud.  She should be!

The Aftermath of A Shark Attack

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I have often told callers struggling with their fears (real or imagined or exaggerated) that next to character, I admire guts.  Actually, having the fortitude to face the things we’re afraid of is a measure of character.

A few weeks ago, I was out for only the third time on my new paddleboard.  I was balancing well, in spite of passing motorboats leaving scary wakes in my path.  I was in choppy waters, which was not that smart at my level of experience, and feeling great about what I was doing, when-BAM-I hit the board full flat and hard on my left side and slid underwater.  I was stunned, cold, and worried about becoming a shark snack.  I swam quickly back to the board, pulled myself up, and lay there shaking with cold, shock, and fear. I pulled my knees under me, then got my feet down as I poised in a crouched position, and then stood straight up and paddled nervously for another fifteen minutes.  The point of these actions was that I knew that if I just swam ashore, I might never get on the board again.  My left ribs hurt tremendously, and I’m still healing.  But for me, the main point was getting back up then and there, and scowling directly into the face of fear.

This is a small step for a girl like me.  A much bigger step for a little girl is the story of Bethany Hamilton.  She nearly lost her life in a vicious shark attack while surfing off the coast of Hawaii almost six years ago.  The shark attack happened while she was lying on her board with her arm dangling comfortably in the water.  The shark ripped her left arm off just below the shoulder, and she almost died from blood loss - the shark left a sixteen inch “bite” on her surfboard.  Grisly, to say the least.  By the way, they caught the shark.  It was a 14-foot-long tiger shark, which weighed 1400 pounds.

What was Ms. Hamilton doing just a month after that shark took her left arm?  Re-training herself to surf competitively with only one arm.  Her positive attitude won her a 2004 EXPY award from ESPN for “Best Comeback Athlete of the Year.”  She’s now ranked among the top ten professional women surfers in the world.  With one arm.

Does this mean she has no fears?  No.  “When I’m feeling scared, I just sing a song or pray…or I just try to ignore it.  It’s always in my mind, and it always will be, but I’ve got to keep my mind on having fun and just surfing.”  She says she sees two or three sharks per year in the water and heads in if she gets scared or thinks she sees a shark.  She doesn’t go in the murky water after a storm.  In other words, she uses the common sense that all surfers should employ.

She travels the world for surfing competitions, and for causes in which she can help children with fears - like going to Thailand to help young children devastated by the tsunami disaster.  With her unique experience, she has something very important to say about overcoming fears, much less overcoming fear of water.

I’ve always said that one of the best learning tools in the universe is to read to yourself and your family biographies of people who have fought inner and outer demons and prevailed.  This is one of those stories.

And you don’t have to be afraid of the ocean to benefit.  Life has its disappointments, assaults, devastation, frustrations, challenges, and bad luck.  That’s just life.  What you do after that point is the measure of your life.