Kennedy tragedy

[Guest guest]

Often when faced with personal or national tragedy, not knowing what to

say, we don't say anything. But we certainly feel things -- usually a

sense of sadness or loss or shock. The current events reminded me of

something I wrote a few years ago but never shared. It relates to the

passing of JFK,Jr's mother. I share it with the list for whatever

benefit it may have.

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REFLECTIONS

Blair J. Packard, PT

Yesterday (May 23, 1994) I spent the day in andria, Virginia, along

with fellow APTA Board members and others who gathered to finish a

process begun several months ago - the process of selecting a new CEO

( Mallon) for APTA. Such an event heralds a beginning of sorts,

and of necessity, marks a passing.

In that same setting some of us who are completing terms of office on

the Board noted that this marked " last " trips to Washington. The hours

logged in airplanes and terminals somewhere between Arizona and

Washington, D.C. seemed to me, at least, the only real unpleasantry in

an otherwise wonderful journey the past three years as a member of the

APTA Board of Directors. This morning, I was up at 5:30 a.m. (2:30 a.m.

Arizona time) to catch a 6:45 a.m. flight home - my " last " one.

This morning the flights were taking off up river, rather than down the

Potomac toward the Atlantic. As the half-empty plane rapidly gained

speed down the National Airport runway, I was sitting on the left side

of the plane, already mid-way through a book that I had begun two days

earlier on the flight to Washington. Shortly after liftoff the pilot

began the process of gently banking the plane to the left to follow the

path of the Potomac upstream. As the plane rolled left, the Pentagon

loomed large off the left wing. And then there was Arlington National

Cemetery.

A day earlier, at precisely the same time that about twenty people were

circled in a hotel room and intensely focused on an interview and

selection process for APTA’s new CEO, much of the rest of the country

seemed very much as focused on events occurring just a few miles from

us in Arlington National Cemetery. I resisted the temptation to look

out the airplane’s window quickly to see if there were any residual

evidence, any gathering crowds of the curious, from the burial of

Kennedy Onassis the day before. The nation had buried a

greatly admired former first lady, but much more than just a former

first lady. Jackie Kennedy had been part of a time and era in which

many of us grew up. This was an era of great turmoil, but hope, and one

in which the youthful leadership of her husband had even sparked a sort

of American Camelot. That has passed on, too.

I returned quickly to the book that was absorbing me. On the title

page is a hand-written personal inscription to me from the author,

B. Puller, Jr. The book is the Pulitzer Prize-winning " Fortunate

Son. " Puller was also buried at Arlington cemetery just a few

days earlier, having taken his own life. His death came as a shock to

me. For any who may not know, Mr. Puller was the keynote speaker at the

opening ceremonies of APTA Annual Conference last year (1993) in

Cincinnati. It is the custom of the Board to hold a reception for the

keynote speaker and spend an hour with the guest. Puller made us

all feel very much like he was the host at this gathering, as from his

wheelchair he greeted and engaged each of us in conversation that made

us all feel very comfortable. We warmed to him quickly, a gift and

characteristic that in his book he ascribed more to his famous father,

but one which he obviously inherited as well. And then all of us

attending the opening ceremony were graced by his inspiring message.

took the time to provide a personalized copy of his book to each

of us on the Board. A busy schedule, something not foreign to any on

the Board, had as yet kept me from reading this book. His unfortunate

death shocked me into the necessity to seek to better understand who he

was, perhaps only through his words that remained. Already his book has

provided a window on a time, on events, and on emotions that I passed

through but never really felt. For many of us who grew up in the

sixties, went to college in the seventies, but somehow escaped the

horrors of war's inhumanity, Puller's writing can open our hearts

and eyes. I can now feel and see things more clearly that I could not,

or did not, then. I, who am somewhere still in life's journey between

birth and death, am the beneficiary of someone else's legacy and

learning passed on, really, to anyone who cares enough to have it.

Having it is one thing. Doing something of worth with that

understanding passed on to us is quite another thing. Perhaps that is

the essence of personal growth, and ultimately, of civilization and

humanity.

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[Guest guest]

Blair,

Thanks for sharing your private moments of a time that to some of us is so

very poignant as we, too, take that last ride out as we complete another

chapter in our book of life. Having gone through those times on several

occasions and wondering if I would ever have another opportunity to serve

there is a certain feeling of finality and yet a forward looking view that

much can lie ahead if we go looking for it. As you know, since my surgeries

I look at each day with anticipation and I try to enjoy the moments we are

given with greater thanks for the blessings that grace my life. The other

day I held my newest grandson on my chest as he slept and recalled the same

event three years ago with my second grandson, for the first time, just days

before my Mayo experience. I could only hope then that life would go on.

The most recent tragedy only tells us that we should only count on the

moment, makes you want to kiss your wife every time you part and tell your

children, grandchildren and your friends how much they mean to you each and

every day. Life is so precious that it makes all the other stuff pale be

comparison.

Take care my friend,

A. Towne

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