Inspiration
Inspiration in the Most Unusual Form
April 22nd, 2010
Written by: Dan Santy
From outward appearances, Peter looks like any happy 61-year-old retiree: average height and build in a collared polo shirt and loose shorts most days, a salt and pepper beard and receding brown hair turning gray. He clearly missed the iPod wave, but loves to sit and listen to vinyl records on a Teac turntable in the back yard.
In fact, Peter is not officially retired because he never held a corporate position or any substantive job. He doesn’t have a college degree, never raised children, has no income, never reads, and now struggles to hold more than a three-, four- or five- word conversation at any time. The right side of Peter’s brain is atrophied from an injury 20 years ago, which means he needs daily assistance with the most basic life functions: using the restroom, showering and getting dressed. Other than listening to albums, he mostly watches action films and sports and goes to the movies, but he can’t remember the name of the movie or the outcome of a game 15 minutes after the end.
So what, possibly—in our pressurized 24/7 lives of financial stresses, business, and raising families—can this 61-year-old man offer us?
Peter, in a word, inspires love. He emanates a palpable buzz of admiration and affection that touches every person in his proximity. He pumps his fist into the air declaring it a beautiful day even when others are taking care of his every physical need. He tells me he loves me as I walk through the room distracted by my own endless list of deadlines and tasks undone. He tells Bentley, our dog, “I love you, Bentley, my faithful dog.”
If you say something funny, even when it’s likely not, Peter laughs uncontrollably and makes you feel special. And he does all these things every day, without fail, and with a clarity of presence we should aspire to achieve.
Peter will officially be my brother-in-law when my fiancé Liza and I marry later this year, but he has been my “brother” since we met about five years ago. To top it off, Peter was recently diagnosed with metastasized lung cancer and is beginning to experience great pain.
But even through this physical agony he pumps his fist skyward and says, “Praise God, it’s a beautiful day.” Nothing, it seems, can quash his effusive reservoir of joy. Amazingly, never once has he so much as uttered a complaint.
If that’s not inspiring—and a heartfelt wake-up call to get out of my own head full of clotted worries—then I don’t know what is.
Enjoy this beautiful day.
