Month: July 2013

What My 11-year-old Son Taught me

Posted on by Phil Corbett

My 11-year-old son is kind of a genetic anomaly. My wife and I were pretty good students and are fairly intelligent, though I have a tendency to be clueless about a lot of things. Still, he is more than just a good student – he is a bit of a brain.

I say this with great humility – and fear!

Right now, I can go to Google or B.S. my way through his questions to sound like I know more than he does, but I know that day is coming when I will not be able to answer his questions, or even understand them. If my brain is up to the challenge, I expect to learn many things from him.

Recently, he taught me a lesson I hope to never forget – a life lesson.

He has just embarked on a 30-day trip, with his grandfather and his 12-year-old cousin, to explore the national parks out West. The trip was planned a year ago and has produced varying and vacillating levels of excitement and trepidation, mostly within his parents and siblings, and just prior to the trip in him, as well.

The night before they left was difficult on all of us. We had a little goodbye cookout at my father-in-law’s place. I knew my wife would cry. I figured my daughter and youngest son would cry. I knew I would be sad but would rationalize it and mostly focus on the wonderful opportunity he was going to have.

What I did not know was how sad he would be before he left.

He cried. He cried hard. Hard enough for us to question whether this was a good thing for him to do and whether he was just too young to be gone for this long. We were waiting for him to change his mind and say he did not want to go, but to his credit, he just asked us, through his tears, to head home. So we did, leaving him with his cousin and grandfather.

What impressed me was he showed the strength to embrace and express the intense sadness he was feeling, and still make the decision to carry on with his plans. I, on the other hand, would have tried to suppress the emotional part of it all and just focus on the positive aspects of the trip, to make the decision easier.

I love Star Trek and am proud to say I have passed that on to him. So to use a Star Trek reference, while I tend to be a bit more of a Vulcan when it comes to emotions, my son taught me what it means to be human.

I look forward to the academic concepts I will learn from him in the future, but I will treasure the life lessons.

By the way, he called us the first few nights and it was great to hear the excitement in his voice. Lately, because of spotty cellular service, we only hear from him every few days, if we are lucky.

I miss him dearly, but actually think it is a good thing we do not talk every day. It will make the stories and lessons he shares when he gets home all the more memorable.

Casting for a Cure

Posted on by Phil Corbett

How many people do you know who have been touched by cancer?

Let’s be honest, touched is not the right word. Cancer seems to hit so many families like a sledgehammer that saying touched doesn’t quite do justice.

How about hammered?

I know many families who have been hammered by cancer, including my own. We were fortunate and my dad and my wife’s dad have been cancer-free for some time now. Others I know have not been as fortunate.

The family of a good friend of mine was one of those not as fortunate. Five years ago, my friend and her siblings lost their mother, at the age of 56, to a yearlong battle with Multiple Myeloma. Though I know the loss of their mother still impacts them, and most likely always will, they were inspired by their mother and her cancer journey to hit back at cancer and use their grief to positively impact the lives of others, whether they are cancer patients, the families of cancer patients or the nurses, doctors and other medical staff who treat cancer patients and their families.

To fight cancer, they created the Greater Minnesota Fight for a Cure (GMFFC), an organization whose mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of those individuals and families affected by cancer.

As I have gotten to know my friend and her family the past several years, I have learned several things. First of all, I do not know if I have ever known four adult siblings as individually unique as these four. At the same time, there are many common threads woven through each sibling that there is no doubt they are family and they enjoy activities that bring families, friends and communities together.

These same characteristics are present in how they have chosen to fight cancer. Each sibling brings unique talents to the table but their preferred way of fighting cancer is through some of the favorite pastimes people enjoy and that bring families and communities together, with events such as the Volleyball Bash for a Cure, the Ronn Negaard Memorial Bean Bag Tournament and GMFFC Extreme Dodgeball Tournament.

The initial, and most prominent, event is Casting for a Cure, a fishing tournament for people of all ages and fishing skills. In four years, these four siblings, along with their spouses, children and other volunteers have been able to donate over $70,000 to various cancer-fighting resources because of Casting for a Cure. With this year’s tournament, to be held on Saturday, August 24th, they hope to bring that total to over $100,000.

Casting for a Cure, though, does more than just raise funds to fight cancer. Casting for a Cure brings hope and healing to families affected by cancer. Casting for a Cure encourages activities that bring families together. Even the Awards Ceremony and Celebration of Hope following the tournament is geared towards enjoying family and friends, with food, music, and outdoor activities for all to enjoy.

I have known the family only after their mother passed so I never knew their mother. All I know of her is through what others have said about her and, more importantly, through getting to know her children. She must have been a great woman because if what Edward Gardner says is true, that “it’s not what you take but what you leave behind that defines greatness,” then her children and their families have defined her well.

I can only imagine as their mother looks down on what she has left behind, she must be very proud.

P.S. If you like to fish, I encourage you to register for the tournament. There is even an online division for those of you who do not live in the St. Cloud area. For those of you who do not fish and live in the area, join us at the Blue Line Sports Bar and Grill in Sartell for the activities following the tournament. It will be well worth your time.

If you do not fish and will not be in the area on August 24th, but would still like to help this family fight cancer, consider making a donation or being a sponsor of the event.

For more information on the fishing tournament and this family’s story, please visit http://www.castingforacure.org.

Hope to see you on the 24th!

A Great Return on My Investment

Posted on by Phil Corbett

Recently, I invested some money in an endeavor many people may have thought was a waste of my hard-earned money. I have to admit, I was not even expecting to recoup my initial investment and really only got involved because it felt like the right thing to do.

I know. I know. Financial advisors will tell you investing on a feeling is not a very smart thing to do. This situation was different, though, and did not fit into any typical investment strategy.

Fortunately, only one week later, I received the prospectus on my investment and the outlook is very positive.

How much did I invest, you ask? Five dollars.

How much is my five dollars worth now? It is impossible to determine.

You see, one night at work, a woman came into the store visibly shaken and worried. She explained she needed to get to the other side of town and was not sure if she had enough gas to get there. She then asked if she could borrow some money for gas. I gave her five dollars.

A week later, she came back to the store and, not recognizing me, asked if the person who gave her the money was working. I said I was the one who gave her the money, however she did not catch what I had said. She continued on to say how much she appreciated the person helping her out. At this point, I decided to keep my identity hidden. When she asked if she could give me the five dollars to give to the person who helped her, I just said I had talked to him about it and he said he did not want the money. He just wanted her to do something for someone else sometime. She was very appreciative and asked if I could give the guy a card. I told her I would, so she gave me the card and left.

I was going to open the card after work but I ended up leaving it on the counter. Back at work several days later, I opened the card and this is what was printed on it:

A simple act of kindness has a beauty all its own. Thank you.

She also added a hand-written note saying:

It’s not often someone is willing to lend a stranger money. And I thank you. My name is Dawn. You helped restore my faith in humanity!

I do not believe I have ever gotten, or will ever again get, a better return on any monetary investment.

I tell this story for several reasons, hopefully none of which are seen as patting myself on the back. First and foremost, I am trying to hold myself accountable to what I wrote in my Gospel According to You post; I want my actions to be a statement of my beliefs.

The second reason: although giving the woman the money did help her out, my act was also one of self-interest. I do not often give money directly to people claiming to be in need because I am not sure how the money will be spent or if giving the money will make their situations better, and not worse. I prefer to give money to organizations whose mission is to help those in need. Still, I do not want to become jaded and be so miserly with my money that I won’t take a chance on giving someone a few dollars.

Yes, the return on my five-dollar investment was excellent. Excellent in that it helped the woman get to where she needed to go and restored her faith in humanity.

Maybe more importantly, excellent in that it reminded me what humanity is.