High School Miracle

The following is told by a retired high school principal.

"I once attended a swim meet at the local high school. It was a relay meet, meaning all of the races were relay races of varying length and stroke.

"The event was the girls 200 m freestyle relay. As all of the girls climbed onto the starting blocks, there was a delay as the swimmer in lane three was helped onto the block; she had muscular dystrophy.

"At the starting gun, all of the swimmers leaped gracefully into the water. All except lane three; she just tumbled forward headlong into the water. It seemed a miracle to me that she could even swim at all. Her arms were mobile only from the elbow down, and she had no reach. Her legs were so weak they couldn't kick against the water.

"She had barely begun her long 25 m journey to the other side of the pool, when the healthier, more capable swimmers, touched the far wall and were on their return laps. The faster swimmers returned and touched the second relay, and these swimmers too, leaped gracefully into the water. Still this valiant, courageous young woman continued her long and laborious journey. I was surprised she even made it to the far wall.

"By that time, all the other swimmers were finished; all of the relays complete; the race was over. I expected her to end the race and climb out of the far side of the pool. Instead she turned, and with a moan of exhaustion, began the painful return to the near side of the pool.

"The true miracle that I witnessed was not just this valiant young woman's effort, but the behavior of the other swimmers, coaches and spectators. As this woman gave her all just to complete the race, these others began wildly cheering at one valiant spirit's determination to endure to the end.

"Stroke after stroke, we could hear her ragged breathing as her will to finish pushed her body as far as it could go. When she returned to the near side of the pool and ever-so-lightly touched the starting block that place erupted! This valiant spirit had won the race, even though she didn't finish in 1st place. It would've been easy for the other swimmers to mock or tear down her efforts, but they were valiant enough to recognize a hero when they saw one"

Today, I too saw a hero. Several years ago my wife was involved in a motor vehicle accident and sustained a closed-head injury. As a result, she lost a significant percentage of her IQ, and her ability to read and do simple math functions. Many people, having suffered such a traumatic loss, would have given up all hope of recovering that which they had before the accident.

Not my wife. She realized that if she wanted to be able to read and do math, she would have to learn how, all over again. Swallowing her pride, she went to the store and purchased several grade-school level workbooks on reading and arithmetic. Even though she has been doing this for some time, today I had the opportunity to watch as she struggled to learn again how to count up money, do simple addition and multiplication problems, and complete exercises to learn the difference between short and long vowels sounds.

I know it was not easy for her. Not just because she is relearning (which is difficult for anyone), but because she knows that as a woman whose children are both married, she is learning at the level of a seven or eight-year-old child. She is a hero, because like the swimmer in the previous story, she realizes that she is not in competition with anyone else. Her triumph comes from just finishing the race; from enduring and pushing through to the end.