For whatever reason, this morning, as I meditatively walked between the
rain
drops, I took myself back to Shand's Hospital at the University of Florida. It
was
November 1, 2007. I remember that date because it was my birthday. Susan and
I were in
the neuro-surgeon's office. It was my final check-up after my cerebral
hemorrahage six
weeks earlier. By all odds I should not have been there. But, there I was.
Now, I
tightly held Susan's hand wondering what the odds were that it would happen
again. I
caressed her hand as I asked the surgeon if I was a walking time bomb. I
wanted the
companionship of her gentle hand; I needed the soft touch of her compassionate
hand. I
focused more on her calming touch then the surgeon's reassuring words.
Maybe all these thoughts were set off by an e-mail from a
non-traditional student
who this summer, after seven years of struggling against the odds, is
graduating highest
in her class. Thinking of her, I thought who among us craves, truly wants, the
loneness,
aloneness, disconnection, and isolation during any important transition or
crisis? Think
of the comforting hands that held ours firmly throughout our lives as we
started out on
new adventures or faced frightening situations. Think of the inner thoughts
and feelings
that our embracing palms and fingers transport into being. The answer seems so
obvious.
And yet, especially in supposedly objective academia, and especially so when it
comes to
first year students, it is so often forgotten or ignored or discounted and
dismissed. The
holding of hands-- the embrace of welcome, the clasp of support, and the grip of
encouragement that awaken tender feelings of belonging and believing--comes in
many forms.
And, kindly, empathetic, loving, and faithful care-giving teaching might
provide one
clear, unmistakable, flesh-and-blood sense of it.
Make it a good day.
--Louis--
Louis Schmier http://www.therandomthoughts.com
Department of History
http://www.therandomthoughts.edublogs.org
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /\ /\ /\ /\
(229-333-5947) /^\\/ \/ \ /\/\__/\ \/\
/ \/ \_ \/ / \/
/\/
\ /\
//\/\/ /\
\__/__/_/\_\ \_/__\
/\"If you want to climb
mountains,\ /\
_ / \ don't practice on mole
hills" -
---
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