A Life Worth Living

Few people would not recognize the name Dick Hoyt, but in case you are unfamiliar with the story…

Dick’s son, Rick, was born with cerebral palsy in 1962, leaving him a quadriplegic without the ability to speak. It would have been easy for the family to have Rick put into an institution and focus on his two healthy siblings. Instead, Dick and his wife Judy pored themselves into Rick. And in 1977, Dick, who was not a runner at the time, pushed his son in a wheelchair five miles during a charity race and thus began their incredible journey.

“Team Hoyt” competed in 1,100 events over the span of 24 years including triathlons marathons and other races. Dick had special wheelchairs and seats designed for Rick for the running and cycling portions of triathlons. He pulled his son in a raft during the swimming events. And the joy on Rick’s face during these moments was palpable. Pull up any video about these two extraordinary men and your eyeballs will sweat in the first two minutes. Dick Hoyt died last year at the age of 80. He left behind an incredible legacy and an example of compassion and love.

The story of Team Hoyt continues to inspire the world. Imagine what would have happened if Rick’s parents simply had written his life off as a tragic accident or quietly locked him away in some institution so they wouldn’t have to be inconvenienced. Fortunately for Rick and for the rest of us who benefit from hearing his story, his parents decided his life was worth living.

It’s far too easy for us to discard some one’s life. Working in a nursing home for 10 years, I saw examples of that more than I wish to remember. People end up in nursing facilities for various reasons. But we often dealt with folks whose families never visited and forgot about them. Even worse, occasionally "loving" children and/or grandchildren would remove patients from the facility in order to collect a their social security checks. Believe it folks, it happens more than you think. We often had patients come to us for “failure to thrive,” meaning they could not care for themselves. Some people simply need to be in a nursing facility but there were times when, despite medical advice, family members took them back home, dumped them in room and forgot about them until they were once again medically unstable. And the cycle continued until that person passed away.

So there you have it; two distinctly different examples of humanity. We’re all capable of either one and certainly within our lifetimes, we fall somewhere within each extreme.

To be fair, it’s not always easy to be with people who have not had the opportunity to live their best life. Some develop a hard outer shell that makes it almost impossible to get through and provide the help they need. Others have been told throughout their lives that they lack the motivation and coordination for sports or other activities like martial arts. We are defined by our life experiences. If you've never been told or shown that you have value, it's hard to see your life any other way.

Unless…

Someone comes along and shows us a glimpse of a different narrative. A loving parent, a football coach, a committed teacher. Someone who sees past the shell and gives us the opportunity to see what is possible instead of living a life of impossibility.

I was certain that college was out of my grasp. I struggled all through school and never planned on higher education until a stern and formidable First Sergeant told me otherwise and challenged me to challenge myself. He took an interest, kept up with me even after I was relocated. Because of people like him in my life, I was in the top five percent of every scholastic endeavor in the military and I maintained a 3.9 - 4.0 throughout college. That’s what happens when we give damn about somebody. That’s what happens when we don’t discard a life.

How about you? What is your story? Can you name one or more moments when someone gave you a glimpse of a different narrative? I bet you can. Share it and pass it on. That’s the kind of thing that makes life worth living.

Dave Magliano

Tatsu Dojo

Jissenkan Budo

Dojo Cho