Extraordinary People

The movie Julia and Julie inspired me to start a blog as Julie did, but Julia is the woman I find more fascinating than the modern day blogger. I read Julia's autobiography and a few minutes ago started a short story about Julia, her husband Paul and some friends dining out in a San Francisco Chinese restaurant. Julia had lost her voice and was writing notes to communicate and the restaurant owner would not speak but wrote notes back to Julia as she considered that to be polite. Paul was upset because the restaurateur would not accept payment for the meal and it was the Childs' policy always to pay to avoid the appearance of favoritism coming their way. Later, Julia writes that they should send the owner a book and also writes, "We must all help to cheer up Paul. He gets depressed when anything wrong w. wife." This reminded me of the way the movie portrayed the relationship between the two - very loving, supportive and understanding. To me, this little note reveals the sweetness of Julia's nature and I was impressed with how extraordinary this competent, determined, talented woman was.

That started me thinking about extraordinary people. What traits do I want in those I think are extraordinary and who do I think to be extraordinary? The traits are easier than selecting the people. An extraordinary person affects other people in a positive way, whether those people be the world, a nation, their community or acquaintances. An extraordinary person, in my opinion, shows strength of character. She does the right thing in each situation, and the right thing is usually the harder choice to make. An extraordinary person lives by ideals and stays true to them. This enables him to live straight and true and frees him up to accomplish things. What things? Things that are hard to do: write a book, build a company, invent something and carry it through to reality, teach children or adults who need teaching, negotiate peace, fight for a cause to the detriment of lifestyle, become so immersed in an idea that the idea actually becomes a reality that positively impacts others.

I suppose all this means that an extraordinary person carries through and does not give up when things get tough. A child who is subjected to a horrible youth and surmounts this to become a functioning adult, a positive member of society, is extraordinary. A mother who digs in Haitian ruins for over 70 hours to rescue her toddler is extraordinary. The man who several years ago, rescued fellow airline passengers from the freezing Potomac river and lost his life after going back in time and time again is truly extraordinary. A firefighter who enters a burning building; a father or mother who endures a grinding, uninspired job because that is the only way to support the family; a friend who brings another friend back from the brink of suicide; an artist who can create a work that provides beauty: these are all extraordinary people.

Being famous does not make one extraordinary. Think of some movie stars and singers whose lives are train wrecks. Their talent may be extraordinary, but they are not. They are destroyed by it and the fame that accompanies it. Being rich does not make a person extraordinary. What one does with the money may, but money may simply make you affluent, not extraordinary. Being smart, beautiful, or powerful does not lead to being extraordinary. Character does.

So who are some extraordinary people I know? Right away I think of a long-time teaching friend who died too soon. Her dedication to her students and to helping other teachers be successful was quiet and strong. It was a thread that stitched her life together. She took more classes, read voraciously anything that would help her teach better, provided information for teachers, parents, and students that would improve their educational and personal lives. She was extraordinary even though I didn't truly recognize this until she was gone. Isn't that always the way? You don't know what you have until it disappears. Very sad. (This brings up another topic, possibly fodder for a future discussion: we need to appreciate what we have while we have it.) My teacher-friend was a person who positively impacted so many people, but she didn't think this was anything out of the ordinary. It was her nature. Not that she didn't sacrifice for this impact. She sometimes felt guilty that she didn't spend more time with her daughters - although she was an active, involved, loving mother. She could have spent more time with her husband just traveling and enjoying each other. And she could have paid more attention to her health and visited the doctor in time to halt the condition that suddenly killed her. But she was too busy teaching and helping. What a loss we sustained when she left us.

Another extraordinary person of course, was Mother Teresa. No discussion needed. I always think of Margaret Meade as being outstanding, but, I don't know much about her which means I had better study her if I want her to remain on the list. The women who fought so that I may vote and not be considered property. Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Eli Whitney and their ilk, yes. Martin Luther and Martin Luther King, Jr., Ghandi. Jesus, not in a religious way, but what he proposed in his teachings, if the Bible can be believed, was extraordinary. Treat others in the same way you want to be treated? Profound. If we all did that....

Those are famous people, but if we look around, we can find outstanding people in our own lives. I challenge myself and any readers I may have to look for those people in our own lives. Appreciate them and learn from them. And maybe be one.

A Gary Soto poem about an ordinary, extraordinary person. Read it a couple of times, at least. It's a really good one.

A Red Palm


You're in this dream of cotton plants.
You raise a hoe, swing, and the first weeds
Fall with a sigh. You take another step,
Chop, and the sigh comes again,
Until you yourself are breathing that way
With each step, a sigh that will follow you into town.

That's hours later. The sun is a red blister
Coming up in your palm. Your back is strong,
Young, not yet the broken chair
In an abandoned school of dry spiders.
Dust settles on your forehead, dirt
Smiles under each fingernail.
You chop, step, and by the end of the first row,
You can buy one splendid fish for wife
And three sons. Another row, another fish,
Until you have enough and move on to milk,
Bread, meat. Ten hours and the cupboards creak.
You can rest in the back yard under a tree.
Your hands twitch on your lap,
Not unlike the fish on a pier or the bottom
Of a boat. You drink iced tea. The minutes jerk
Like flies.

It's dusk, now night,
And the lights in your home are on.
That costs money, yellow light
In the kitchen. That's thirty steps,
You say to your hands,
Now shaped into binoculars.
You could raise them to your eyes:
You were a fool in school, now look at you.
You're a giant among cotton plants.
Now you see your oldest boy, also running.
Papa, he says, it's time to come in.
You pull him into your lap
And ask, What's forty times nine?
He knows as well as you, and you smile.
The wind makes peace with the trees,
The stars strike themselves in the dark.
You get up and walk with the sigh of cotton plants.
You go to sleep with a red sun on your palm,
The sore light you see when you first stir in bed.

Gary Soto